Cheers to a New Chapter: New York City

Meet Team K&L NYC!

For a long time, I've believed that if K&L were ever to expand beyond California, New York would be the right place to do it. Not just because of the market, but because New York wine and spirits lovers are exactly the kind of customers K&L was built for: knowledgeable, passionate, and willing to reward a shop that does the work.

There's a lot being written right now about the struggles facing the wine and spirits business. We're seeing something different: newer customers, younger customers, a genuine enthusiasm for discovery that doesn't match the headlines. We don't take that for granted, and it's part of why this moment felt right.

When the opportunity to acquire Park Avenue Liquors arose, it felt like the right moment. The business opened in 1934, just after Prohibition ended, and spent the decades that followed building a name for rare spirits and the kind of fiercely independent character that's hard to manufacture. We respected what it stood for.

K&L was founded in 1976 in the Bay Area, and we've grown up with a similar set of beliefs: that a wine shop earns its reputation one bottle and one customer at a time; that price and quality should be taken equally seriously; and that what's on the shelf only matters as much as the people helping you choose it. We've been family-owned and operated since the beginning, and that hasn't changed.

What this means for New York customers is a deeper wine program, access to exclusive selections and direct imports, and a procurement operation that reaches producers in every major wine region. The spirits focus that Park Avenue built, particularly in Scotch, isn't going anywhere.

Being present in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York puts K&L in a position that very few retailers occupy. For the wineries and distilleries whose products we carry, that reach matters. It opens doors with producers who want their bottles in the right hands in the right cities, and that ultimately means better access and more interesting selections for our customers everywhere.

This city has produced some of the best wine minds in the world. Honestly, the team is the announcement.

On the store side, Ben Niedelman comes to us from Morrell and Tribeca Wine Merchants. Devon Elting joins from management roles at Verve and Rosenthal. Santiago Villasis spent years as an operational leader at Astor Wines. From California, Keith Mabry, who has been with K&L since 2007 and serves as our Rhone and Loire buyer, relocated to help lead the wine program here. Operations Manager Will Langi and John Bilodeau made the same move, bringing years of K&L experience with them. Supporting the New York launch at the leadership level, Tom Zacharia, our VP of Strategic Growth and Partnerships, and Josephine Zacharia, who leads our marketing team, bring the perspective of one of New York's most storied wine families.

Eric and Jonathan Goldstein, who led Park Avenue Liquors in recent years, are continuing with K&L. Jonathan joins our buying team as Spirits Buyer, focused on fine and rare spirits sourcing in New York. Eric has joined our Private Client Services team as Spirits Lead.

There are others we haven't named who are equally essential to what we're building. The bottles are great. The people are why you'll come back.

We’re renovating our new home at 270 Madison Avenue at the corner of 39th Street and plan to remain open throughout. We’d love for you to come by.

Thank you for welcoming us to New York. We intend to earn it.

Brian Zucker
CEO, K&L Wine Merchants