May 8, 2017

Meet Ketan Patel of Sigman Bottle Shop in Southeast

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ketan Patel.

Ketan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sigman Bottle Shop is a true hidden gem of metro Atlanta located in Conyers, GA, founded by I, Ketan Patel and my brother in 1991. The store started as only a small 1,200 square feet liquor store that has now grown to over 16,000 square feet. The business first started when we moved to Georgia after migrating to Chicago from India. In the beginning of our journey in the alcohol industry, we had no relevant experience; we were simply seeking an opportunity to work for ourselves and create something special. As we started from square one, we grew from our mistakes and learned the business as well as the market. The more we learned, the better we got at running our business. Five years later, we doubled the size of our store, the first of our road to expansion. The next few years were a very important time frame for us, as we strived to create a strong customer base and gather more capital to take the business to the next level. With the help of our local Conyers community and loyal customers, in 2004 my brother and I decided to take a huge leap of faith and expand our store to 15,000 square feet in a vacant space next door to us. We were not sure if this move would pay off for us, but we decided to take the risk and invest all the money we had saved since we first migrated to the US in hopes it would. In this location was where our business truly grew.

Although this expansion was a huge risk, requiring a lot of capital to fill such a large space with inventory and operate a massive business as this, we had enough confidence in ourselves and our work ethic to take that risk. We felt our long 12 hours a day, 7 days a week would one day pay off for us in creating an exceptional shopping experience. Our volume grew in this location as well as our knowledge for the industry, reflecting in our sales and customer satisfaction. We received a lot of positive feedback from our customers, keeping us hungry to keep taking Sigman Bottle Shop to the next level. Finally, in 2009, we bought a standalone building located next to current location at the time, and moved our location one final time. My brother and I designed our store from scratch, allowing us to build a liquor store we always dreamed of. At Sigman Bottle Shop, we strive to give our customers an extremely unique and pleasant shopping experience for all liquor, beer, and wine drinkers who shop with us. Today, we offer one of the largest, cleanest and most uniquely designed liquor stores in the Southeast, as well as an overwhelming selection in spirits, wine, and beer, and the best customer service we possibly can.

We strive to keep our pricing as competitively low as possible, as well as offering some of the most rare and collectable products in the industry. Our store is still owner operated along with our extremely helpful staff team, and 26 years later we are finally have achieved our goal of creating one of the best liquor stores in metro Atlanta.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Our road to growing Sigman Bottle Shop was not a very smooth road, we hit a lot of financial struggles in our path. The expansion in size multiple times was really expensive, and we were continuously having to borrow capital and throw our entire life savings into the business in order to keep growing. Our distributors require cash on delivery for the goods we purchase, so when we went to fill a 15,000-square foot store with massive amounts of inventory we were scrambling to find ways to pay it off without risking everything we had.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sigman Bottle Shop – what should we know?
Sigman Bottle Shop is more than just a liquor store, it’s a business that strives to give its customers the best customer satisfaction and lowest prices in spirits, wine, and beer. Our business is widely known for the overwhelming selection available for our customers, along with our excellent customer service. People say “if Sigman Bottle doesn’t have it, you don’t need it.” We have been in the industry for over 25 years now, so we have great knowledge of the products and are willing to assist our shoppers in any way we possibly can. There are many things that set us apart from our competition, but mostly our passion for the industry and desire to provide our great customers the best service and pricing we can. Our beautifully designed and extremely well organized store is truly exceptional. I am most proud of my business for the level we have grown to, in both volume and customer satisfaction. Taking a business that only started as a small mom and pop’s liquor store and taking it to the level we are now at is an American dream that we always worked for, and finally have achieved. I am very proud of the reputation Sigman Bottle Shop has around metro Atlanta. Our reviews are for the most part 4 stars, and it’s a great feeling receiving feedback from our customers that they have a great experience shopping with us each time they come in. When customers drive by 20 other liquor stores to come shop with us, you know you have something special to offer.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Many people deserve credit for our success at Sigman Bottle Shop. First and foremost, my family. My extended family has played a huge role in helping us drive our business to the level it is today. The support we have received from them is something I am forever grateful. My brother-in-law Hemant Amin has helped me and my brother for over 10 years, working with us and being there to help us grow. Our cousin, Manish Desai has also played a huge role in our success in the recent years. He joined us 8 years ago and is now one of our managers that does a phenomenal job at helping us run our business day to day. My late father is probably the one who played the biggest role in our success, teaching my brother and I business since we were only children, mentoring us about the moral ethics that are very important for life. We also have our entire team of employees to thank, as they have followed us in our path to give our customers the best service they can and loyalty to us over the years.

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