A popular midtown Mobile wine shop is preparing to more than double its footprint after signing a lease on a Dauphin Street building being vacated by a well-known restaurant. Owners Randy and Sherri Williams confirmed they have signed a lease at 1104 Dauphin St. and hope to relocate their business, a wine and gourmet shop that also serves dinner, sometime in September.
A Growing Business Needs More Room
The Williamses opened their Mobile shop five years ago inside the former Nixon Drugs building on Old Shell Road, across from the Dew Drop Inn. About two years in, they began serving dinner five nights a week, and the business has since outgrown that space. “It’s been a really good location for us,” Randy Williams said, “but the kitchen could never be what we wanted, and parking is an issue. That’s what prompted the move.”
The new Dauphin Street location will grow the business from roughly 2,200 square feet to about 5,000 square feet, though Williams predicted the extra room “will get eaten up pretty quickly.” He described the new layout as a significant departure from the current setup: much of what is currently dining space will become retail area, while the bar will be redesigned but remain in the same general spot.
Timing Tied to a Restaurant’s Closing
The opportunity arose as another Dauphin Street tenant, a three-year-old restaurant, was closing its doors the same evening the lease news broke, following its general manager’s acknowledgment that the location’s size presented both opportunity and challenges. That closure freed up the space the Williamses had been eyeing for their expansion.
Room to Grow, and to Entertain
The larger space will let the business begin offering private dining for the first time, something Williams said customers have long requested for business meetings, rehearsal dinners and wine tastings. “When a good winemaker comes to town, we can have tastings and tasting dinners that will be really popular with people, I think,” he said. Seating capacity will grow from about 40 guests to 60.
A Business Built on Wine Expertise
Williams has worked in the wine industry since graduating from college in 1980 and moved to Mobile while working for a winemaker. Years later, he opened the first Red or White retail shop in downtown Fairhope, and when that store thrived, the couple opened a second location in Mobile, with both eventually adding food service. In Mobile, chef Arwen Rice has spent about a year crafting handmade pizzas, bruschetta and antipasto boards to pair with the shop’s wine selections. “We’re fortunate that it’s pretty much packed all the time,” Williams said of the current location’s popularity heading into the move.