Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatjana Brown
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We opened up our wine shop in 2008, after a recent move to Westerville. We loved the small town feel and thought this would be a great fit, as there was really nothing else like it in the community at that time. Westerville has a rich history steeped in the roots of Prohibition so for many, many years there were no establishments that sold any alcohol in Uptown. We were the first retail space to sell alcohol and the third liquor license in the historically “dry” area.
Our shop has really changed and evolved over the years. Originally, we opened and ran the shop as a retail space and wine bar, hosting Friday night wine tastings and serving wine and charcuterie in house. During the Covid period, we closed our doors to keep our staff and the public safe but quickly were able to pivot into delivery to the Westerville and greater Columbus area. We took that time to remodel the shop and decided that this was a time to transition to something that worked better for our family as well as for the community.
Today we operate a retail focused business and still offer delivery 6 days a week! We have grown our charcuterie business to include grazing tables and other more elaborate set ups. Our favorite pivot has been our fundraising program. we previously hosted fundraising events at the shop, so with our transition, those were no longer something that we could offer. We now offer a full delivery service fundraiser option and in 2024 alone, we were able to help raise over $30,000 that went back to local schools and other charitable organizations.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to running a small business is never easy, but we faced some pretty big challenges over the years. We opened our business in early 2008, right before the recession hit and we were faced with some major economic struggles. Later on, we were faced with the decision to temporarily shut down our business when Covid hit which was a difficult decision at the time that ended up having a huge impact on how we operate.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I stared the business because we saw an opportunity for something that our town did not have at the time which was a retail wine shop and wine bar. Over the years, we have evolved the business several times and came to realize that the truth core of our business is community.
We created an offshoot of our business that focuses on fundraising, and created an infrastructure that helps raise money for local charities and schools. In our first year of this program, we helped raise over $25,000 for the community. We are so proud of the work we are able to do with fundraising and we feel that the connection between small business and community is the ethos of what we do.
Another arm of our business came from a natural evolution of our in-store offerings in the form of charcuterie. We served some simple charcuterie boxes in our wine bar in the beginning; and have grown this business to catering grazing tables for events like showers, corporate events and weddings through Meza ‘Provisions’. We offer a large scale offering that we have not seen much elsewhere in the area and we are proud of this evolution.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
There are some huge shifts happening in the industry at the moment. The movement to drink less, or opt out entirely has been major over the last year. We have really refocused our inventory on wine options that fall into the natural category as a main stay – wines that are made with minimal manipulation, without the use of chemicals and pesticides and that area made with an overall cleaner approach. Our customers care about what they are consuming and when they do want to have wine, they want something they can feel good about. We have also added a variety of non alcoholic wine and mocktail options to our shelves for those wanting to enjoy but not imbibe.
We are currently awaiting shifts in the economy that may include tariffs on imported wines which would have a devastating effect on our industry across the board from domestic producers to distribution channels, with the heaviest of that falling on small retailers like Meza.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mezawineshop.com
- Instagram: meza wine shop
- Facebook: meza wine shop
