Interview with the wine merchant Emilie Kopp, the owner of Vins Sarments
The career of the wine merchant Emilie Kopp
After several years in the hotel and catering industry, Emilie Kopp decided to change careers and move into the world of wines and spirits, as she has always had a particular attraction for this field. She started in a wine estate in Vouvray and at the same time followed a training course allowing her to acquire the necessary skills to develop her own activity. Her dream was to open her own cellar to advise customers on wines, listen to their preferences and share convivial moments. Her first step was to create an e-commerce website, which she launched in the middle of the pandemic in December 2020. This will be followed by the opening of her own wine cellar "Les Vins Sarments" in June 2022. The wine cellar offers a wide range of wines and spirits, a selection of beers updated every month, as well as local products: spreads made in Touraine or fruit juices made in France.
As a subscriber to monthly wine boxes, the owner found that there was not enough explanation of the wines presented, particularly their origin. She therefore decided to develop a different concept from the current offer: to propose fun and understandable boxes, so that customers can learn more about the composition of their box, the origin of the wines or the food/wine pairing.
The steps to setting up a wine cellar
Emilie Kopp chose not to be accompanied by a professional for the fitting out of her business. Everything was done in family! Indeed, it is with the help of her brother-in-law that Emilie Kopp renovated her premises. For the decoration, she used the colours of her e-commerce site to have a common identity and opted for a wooden floor to create a warm and natural atmosphere where her customers would feel good.
At the beginning of the project, the wine merchant had no particular idea of the type of furniture she would choose. It was while researching on the internet that she fell in love with Tradis furniture. She wanted quality furniture, aesthetically pleasing that would blend in with the charm of the shop, and sturdy to last over time. She also wanted to favour solid wood for its natural aspect in line with the world of wine and to support the heavy loads of her products.
For her selection of furniture, she took the measurements of her premises in order to have furniture adapted to her surface area and use: 60 m², of which 40 m² is dedicated to the commercial area, and the rest to the storage of her products. In terms of finishes, the wine merchant chose the colour Bois Vieilli, which is the closest to natural wood and matches the cream and wine tones of the walls perfectly.
A satisfying experience with Tradis
While searching our website, Emilie Kopp used the information available on the product information sheet of each piece of furniture selected, giving her answers in terms of total bottle capacity per piece of furniture, ease of movement or dimensions of each rack. The photos of our customers' situations, available in the "Our realizations" section, inspired her to organise her layout. Also, on each product sheet and during the summary of his order, the delivery times were announced, allowing him to project the opening date of his future business.
For the owner of Les Vins Sarments, the most important criterion for choosing furniture is above all aesthetics. It is necessary for her that they are in harmony with the decoration of her premises. Since her offer includes wines carefully selected from her suppliers, it was obvious for her to choose quality furniture. The second criterion is the functionality of the products so that they are best suited to the uses of the wine shop: possibility of segmenting the offer by rack, displaying the bottles vertically, having a restocking area, etc. This is what she was able to find in the TRADIS furniture.
Finally, the wine merchant is now very satisfied with her experience with TRADIS. Her order arrived in time for the opening of her business. The furniture, delivered assembled, was able to be placed directly in the premises and set up in a short time. The quality was excellent, thanks to the well-packed and protected furniture for transport.
