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Posted on Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 5:59 a.m.

The season of entertaining is boost for Morgan & York in Ann Arbor

By Laura Blodgett

For Morgan & York, the wine and specialty food store at 1928 Packard, the week before Thanksgiving is the busiest week of the year.

“There are many people who don’t necessarily drink wine year round but want to have it on the Thanksgiving table,” explains Matt Morgan, who co-owns the store with business partner, Tommy York. “With Thanksgiving, the meal is the centerpiece of the holiday and people see having wine as enhancing the meal.”

Morgan has a few favorites he recommends this season.

“We’re really excited about the new vintage of Meyer-Fonne. The 2009 was quite a successful vintage in France, and it is starting to hit shelves now.”

With reds slightly more popular this time of year, Morgan suggest the 2009 Beaujolais and 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau.

As it gets closer to Christmas, Morgan says the emphasis shifts from entertaining to gift giving. “Where the Thanksgiving emphasis is on serving wine, the Christmas focus is on giving it. We start getting a lot of requests for interesting bottles of wine or a good scotch.”

The store’s wine department boasts the largest volume followed closely by the deli segment. There, they put together trays of cheese, sandwiches, meats and pate as well as gift baskets. Although Michigan laws have changed and they can no longer ship any alcohol, they are able to do local deliveries and also maintain a vibrant cheese-of-the-month club.

morgan_york.jpg

Tommy York (left) and Matt Morgan say their specialty food and beverage store starts getting busy before Thanksgiving, then customers shift from party-planning to gift-buying.

Laura Blodgett | For AnnArbor.com

The store carries a wider variety of wine and cheese this time of year than any other and brings in specialty items like dark chocolate covered orange peels and panforte, the traditional Tuscan fruitcake.

For holiday promotions, the store is having its annual wine sale of 20 percent off mixed cases of new arrivals to be held this year from Dec. 10-19. It also is holding its annual gingerbread house decorating class for kids on Dec. 11 at 2:30 — no charge, just a request for a donation to charity.

Morgan says the holiday season is like having an extra month of sales for the year.

“We’re not as seasonal as some businesses, like toys. We have a pretty steady year round business in wine and food, although certain segments like liquor and chocolate are disproportionately busy in December.”

He is expecting this holiday season to be at least as good as last year.

“We had a bad fourth quarter in 2008, and 2009 was soft. The first half of 2010 started off slow but things started to pick back up. We haven’t planned on any big increases from last year, but if they come, we’ll take them.”

Morgan & York's tips for the perfect gift
Looking for just the right present? Morgan offers his picks for the season.

Cheese - “We just got in a nice wheel of French Beaufort, which is from the French Alps. It’s really rich with a high butter fat content and a very complex flavor of mountain herbs and flowers. It also melts well and makes a great fondue.”

Liquor - Morgan says scotch is the perennial favorite. “The Lagavulin is my favorite. It’s an Islay liquor with a very smoky, flavorful style.”

Wine - “Some really amazing burgundys are starting to mature, like the 2005 Monthelie from Domaine Roulot, which is a red burgundy made from pinot noir.”  For whites, Morgan recommends the Meyer-Fonne Gewurztraminer. “It’s rich and spicy with a full-bodied, slightly sweet style. It won’t be for everybody though.” If you prefer something drier, he “is really liking a white burgundy chardonnay, the Rully Blanc from Domaine de Villaine.”

Chocolate - For something sinfully delicious, Bodrato’s chocolate covered cherries soaked in grappa explode in your mouth with a sensational flavor. Just find a way to discreetly spit out the pit.

This is one in a series of stories by AnnArbor.com’s Business Review about local retailers and their strategies during the biggest sales season of the year. Get more local business news by subscribing to the Business Review newsletter and breaking email alerts.

Laura Blodgett is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.

Comments

Lauren Smith

Fri, Dec 10, 2010 : 12:06 p.m.

Morgan and York is my favorite spot in Ann Arbor. I can't say enough about them. I have attended their free classes on paella, tagines, raclette, and mozarella. They have an amazingly friendly and knowledgeable staff. They have killer sandwiches/soup and I buy all of my wine from them. If you want free activities, M&Y has that covered (see above), so it's a great place for the unemployed as well.

Matt Morgan

Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 6:38 p.m.

Laura-- thanks for the story. A couple of charity-related things we're doing this holiday season: On Dec 11th, we're having a gingerbread house decorating event for the kids. This event is free, but we're taking donations which will all be given to Alpha House to help homeless families. We'd like people to register so we know how many houses to build for the kids to decorate : http://morganandyork.com/product.php?productid=566&cat=5&page=1 We would also like people to know that we're a dropoff location for Toys for Tots this year. If you have something you would like to leave to brighten a kid's holiday, please bring it by.

Ben

Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 3:30 p.m.

Lol. What's with all the comments about the unemployed not shopping at M&Y? The unemployed are probably not shopping anywhere but Save-A-Lot and Walmart. Are those the only retail operations that are worthy of a write-up? The unemployed probably can't afford to eat out either. Should all reporting on restaurants cease? I like shopping at M&Y except for two things. 1 - the funky smell. 2 - the occasionally creepy or spaced-out staff.

EightySeven

Sun, Dec 5, 2010 : 8:24 p.m.

Jim I will never use the word bargain & M.Y. 2gather. I know a lot about wine pricing and they have a heavy hand in their mark up. Or they buy wines with small allocations and put a price on them that cannot be compared in the marketplace. So maybe the price may seem reasonable but in truth it will be a good 25percent higher than what is fair. To many wine available in marketplace so I shop elsewhere so I can at least compare prices from time 2 time.

montyman

Sun, Dec 5, 2010 : 12:52 p.m.

I'll admit I don't spend a lot of money at M and Y but I do go every now and then. You can always be assured what you're getting is high quality and fresh. The bulk olive oil I think is a bargin for the quality you receive. You can sample all of them and buy the one you like by filling a provided bottle. No more spending $30.00 on a bottle only to open it and be disappointed. Lastly, check out their Saturday events. I've learned how to make and sampled paella and mozarella cheese and heard facinating cheese and wine discussions. All for free! They'll even loan you a paella pan! There's never any pressure to buy and I've never felt it was a place for snobs. Just my experienced opinion.

Jim

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 7:41 p.m.

Full disclosure - these guys are friends of mine. That doesn't change the fact that they assumed operation of what was Big Ten years ago, and I think they've done a very good job of fulfilling their own vision while maintaining some of the charming idiosyncrasies of the old place. Go in during the day sometime and you'll see people from the neighborhood picking up a six pack or kids getting candy, not just us "pretentious" types who go in for the wine and cheeses that they carry. If you do some comparison shopping I think you'll find that there are many very nice French, Italian and Australian wines from small producers very reasonably priced (many under $15 - less if you buy during a sale). Spend the same $ on a bottle of typical mass market California Cab and you may decide that M&Y is the bargain.

treetowncartel

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 2:28 p.m.

Big Ten was a great place indeed.

Sallyxyz

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 2:22 p.m.

Nice store, but pricey for many who are out of work or underemployed making minimum wage. I guess their target market is the highly paid employed or the filthy rich who don't work or affluent students, which is fine, but "regular folks" probably don't shop there. It will be interesting to see how long they can survive on a shrinking pool of customers in Michigan.

ribs1

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 11:52 a.m.

Love the place and looking forward to getting some of the brisket and pulled pork they've been working on out on their new big green egg.

greenwoodkody

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 10:23 a.m.

I'm a regular at M&Y and a big fan of the place. I presume they wear the shop coats because they comprise a uniform for the staff and I'm sure they are very practical when employees are working in the deli and also moving around cases of wine in the back room. Clearly they have to wear something; if not shop coats, it would probably be big aprons. And you'll note that the navy color of the coats matches the graphics in their signage and literature. They are unapologetic about having a very Euro-centric wine selection, and I don't blame them a bit for that. Their wines are mostly small-production stuff that you most definitely cannot find on the shelf at Kroger. And that's a good thing. A very good thing.

jcj

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 10:23 a.m.

I doubt many of those loosing their unemployment are shopping here.

Brad

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 9:40 a.m.

It's the place to go if you want some pretense with your wine purchase. And what's up with those shop coats anyway?

E

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 8:44 a.m.

The Big Ten simply ran its course. Morgan & York continue to be a fine addition to the community. Wish they would carry more California wines though!

Killroy

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 8:36 a.m.

InsideTheHall, I think we're lucky to have Morgan and York at that location given that the Big Ten officially retired and sold the business years ago. I mean its better than a BurgerKing or McD's or worse, a WalMart? Besides, Tommy's experience in food retail encompasses Zingerman's and ERC, so I think we should cut him some slack and let him continue to fine tune the retail space.

InsideTheHall

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 7:37 a.m.

I'll be honest I miss the Big Ten Party store. The prices were better, more selection especially from the US, the advice from the help was always spot on, and I enjoyed the narrow crowded isles.