Randall’s Wines and Spirits will open a location on the Hill this summer

South City will have a new destination to buy alcohol when popular local chain Randall’s Wines and Spirits opens in August at 4925 Southwest Ave. on the Hill. “We’ve been looking around there for quite some time,” said Randall’s vice president Todd Randall. “I like the tradition and the history of the Hill, and you’re a little more centrally located, so you can serve Hampton, the Grove, South City. To be part of that community will be something super cool that doesn’t come around often.” 

Randall said customers can expect a very similar store to the others, including days and hours of operation, but with a few new tricks. First, the new Randall’s will have an 1,800-square-foot seminar room, where people can attend classes and tastings. “People want to learn more about what they’re drinking, just like people want to know more about what they’ve been eating,” Randall explained. And with a growing interest in more local, artisanal products in recent years, the company feels there’s an audience for this kind of pedagogy; at other locations, their beer classes have been extremely popular, Randall said.  

Additionally, the new Randall’s will have a whiskey room, which Randall hopes to use primarily as a barrel room. “We’d do all aged items: whiskey, rum, some barrel-aged tequilas,” he said. In his view, allowing customers to engage with more unique whiskeys in this way will let people taste and think about spirits they may not otherwise have had the opportunity to.  

Since the new store will be on the Hill, a predominantly Italian neighborhood full of beloved restaurants, Randall said wine will also be a big focus, as will natural wine and nonalcoholic drinks and spirits. “We’re still going to do everything that we do,” he said. “We’re still going to excel and be the best place people can shop, especially locally. That’s always been a big thing to me.”