'The world's best wine salesman': Chan Cox's world keeps growing

FORT WALTON BEACH, FL - Born in south Alabama, Chan Cox figured out pretty quickly what was most popular when he started working for Standard Distributing in the early 1970s.

Jack Kugelman's liquor distributorship was a wholesale heavyweight based in Pensacola. And bourbon was top of the list of what customers consumed.

Wine? It was something made by those guys Ernest and Julio in California and came in big bottles.

"It was a different world," Cox recalled recently. "And the position I had there was as a trainee. It was something they'd never done before, so I was a kind of a guinea pig. But Jack Kugelman more or less took me under his wing and I learned a lot."

Cox never has stopped learning. One of his favorite phrases is, "There's no lesson like a bought lesson."

With nearly 40 years of experience, he has built Chan's Wine World into a major local brand. His steady rise has allowed him to plan expansions to places such as Jacksonville and Orlando. There might be other states on his radar as well.

"I don't want to pick one of those over-used words, but I've got a passion for business," Cox said. "I work hard and I work a lot. I demand a lot from myself, but I love going to work every day and I get just about everything I want out of business.

"It's competitive like sports, and I'm intrigued by risk-reward in ventures," he added. "I have made huge mistakes that I have paid a lot for, but I'm not a give-up kind of guy. I'm taking advantage of 30-plus years of experience. It's all about relationships, and you don't develop relationships in just two or three years.

"I've never been in but one industry, and now I'm at the right place at right time," Cox said. "You've got to be prepared ... you need stamina and energy, and you've got to be able to withstand pressure."
 
Five and growing

There are Wine World "outlet stores" in Fort Walton Beach, Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach that sell beer, wine and liquor. The Wine Worlds in Destin and Sandestin go further, offering extensive selections of cheeses and feature cafés that serve food.

Several years ago, all off this might have seemed just a logical extension of a booming economy in a region that was enjoying levels of prosperity it had never known. But even in the several years since the real estate market hit the skids, Wine World has maintained its positive energy.

Once you meet Cox, it's obvious fairly quickly that he is both the source of that energy. He often arrives at one of his stores by 6 a.m. on a given weekday. Even during a lunch break, he radiates as he practices the art of tailoring his information to his audience.

You want science involved in winemaking - the regions, the climates, the processes?

Or how about a simple explanation of why that wine he found in Chile or Argentina would work so well on the average dinner table?

Either way, you get what you need, and it's imparted with a small subconscious charge of that trademark energy. And in case you want to learn, there are numerous tasting events at the stores.

"Chan is the foremost promoter of wine in this market," said Bill Campion, who runs the regional operation for Republic National Distributing Co. out of Pensacola. "He's done the diligence to study the business and he just promotes it better than any other retailer in the trade. You really have to go the extra mile to present it and promote it properly. There's nobody better at promoting wine, day in and day out, and in every category. It's the promoting aspects that keep him ahead of everybody else. Plus, he's got the most comprehensive selection."

Campion grew up in the restaurant business, and easily recalls Cox's days of running successful local eateries from Pensacola to Panama City. One of their trademarks was that the restaurant always was adjacent to a beer, wine and liquor retailer.
 
Learning the hard way

Those locations opened almost 30 years ago, when most chain eateries in the area were based on national fast food brands.

Eventually, Cox transitioned out of his restaurants for various reasons, and this is where he will smile and refer to the "bought lessons." Some of them were at considerable price.

"I don't look back," he said during a recent interview. "I learned from all of it."

Cox's mother, Mary, and his sister, Jackie, always have supplied personal and professional support. He also describes current business partner Robert Montgomery as "someone that I don't want to make any decisions without hearing from him. He's a smart guy and a great partner."

Michel Thibault, a former maitre d' and general manager at Criolla's, has become a key team member in recent years. "Absolutely the world's best wine salesman," is what his boss calls him.

Even though Cox doesn't make a point of telling people, he is very much a force behind several major annual events he helped develop. They include the Destin Wine Festival, the Destin Charity Wine Auction and the Taste of the Beach.

"He is someone who is very driven and at the end of the day, he loves what he does," said Todd Vucovich, who heads the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation. "And he's an entrepreneur in the true sense ... he's a visionary in that he sees opportunities and he brings in others to help him execute those opportunities.

"In addition to all that, he's a philanthropist with a huge heart and a strong soft spot in his heart for children's charities and making a difference," Vucovich added. "In terms of us and our foundation, we wouldn't be here without him."

This year The Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation set a record by raising $925,000. Wine & Dine in Paradise, the nonprofit organization's signature event held annually in April, brought generated $100,000 more than in 2008 and pushed the foundation's total fund raising to nearly $3 million in only four years.

"Not only has he put Northwest Florida on the map with people all over the world, but his stores are an experience," Vucovich said.

Inside and out

Donald Bailey, who manages off-premises sales for Southern Wine & Spirits distributor, has known Cox for more than 20 years.

"I think he hires good people and he knows the wine business inside and out," Bailey said. "He makes very good purchases and his mind is always working on how to grow the business.

"A lot of people want to sell wine, but they don't know a lot about the wine industry," he added. "Today, there are thousands of wines out there, and it's still a growing industry. If you don't keep up, you get left behind. He's been the biggest factor in growth of wines in Destin and Sandestin and it's been good for everybody. People visit here from Birmingham and Atlanta and when they leave they have cases of wine going with them."

Even competitors admire Cox.

"I can't say anything but nice things about him," said Wayne Shahid, owner and operator of The Whiskey Barn in Fort Walton Beach.

"I've known him for a lot of years, and he's a good person and a fair competitor," said Shahid, who's been in business for about 37 years. "He's a real go-getter, and that's what it takes to open all those stores and then take care of them like he does."

In addition to Montgomery, Cox's business partners are Mike Stange of Sandestin and Francoise Lannoye, who owns five Bordeaux estates France.

"We're planning on expanding on the Wine World outlet concept," Cox said. "We decided to have a test to open three stores outside the market area, and if they do well, we plan on expanding in the state and out of state. We've signed our first lease in Orlando and we're negotiating on a second lease there."

And out of state?

"There are a lot of possibilities in different markets," Cox said. "Texas is a possibility ... I've been encouraged to go to Las Vegas ... and we're interested in South Carolina and Birmingham.

"The key to my success is listening to my customers and giving them what they want ... and sometimes you have to help them expand their horizons. That's our job, helping them discover new things."