Business
Booze-free bottle shop in the Lower East
Side brings non-alcoholic spirits and
beverages to New York City storefront
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A new booze-free spirit
store opened its doors in
the Lower East Side at
the end of 2020.
Spirited Away is New York
City’s very fi rst zero-proof spirit
shop, offering a variety of beverages
and spirits that contain
less than .5% or 0% alcohol by
volume (ABV). The idea for the
shop came to Douglas Watters,
the owner and founder of Spirited
Away, came to him over the summer
of 2020.
“The whole non-alcoholic
spirits trend came out of the
UK, it is a more mature market
for a lot of these products,” said
Watters. “We offi cially opened in
November 2020. The idea came
to me over the summer and it
came together fairly quickly.”
As a Lower East Side resident
himself, Watters knew the neighborhood
would be ideal for the
shop. Though picking a location in
the Lower East Side was a personal
choice, Watters says that the area
was encouraging for him as the
neighborhood is starting to have
new stores open up on his block.
“One thing I will say that was
encouraging to me as I started
looking for space. There were a
lot of vacant storefronts and some
blocks in the Lower East Side that
can seem pretty dead at times — it
can be disheartening to see businesses
going under,” said Watters.
“On my block, it was exciting to
see a new Korean comfort food
place having a grand opening, the
clothing store Avenue C is opening
a new shop. Exciting to see
other stores around me doing the
same thing by taking a concept
that might be risky and going for
it. I’m excited about the innovation
and all the new great stores
to be created in this weird time.”
That being said, Watters knew
he was taking a risk by opening up
a new shop during the pandemic.
“There was a hesitation in the
back of my mind when thinking
about opening the store, as well
as a lot of uncertainty,” said Watters.
“As business categorized as
a beverage store, we not subject
to mandatory closing unless rules
change. I plan to remain open as
long as it’s safe to do so. These are
uncertain times.”
Spirited Away has a wide
variety of different non-alcoholic
spirits to choose from, including
several different stouts and IPAs,
elixirs and other “mocktail” mixers
and alcohol-free spirits such as
gin and tequila. The store also has
options for artisan sodas available
for sale.
When it came to deciding what
to stock the shelves with, Watters
said that Spirited Away aimed to
fi nd alternatives to the beverages
that people often drink to unwind
at the end of the day.
“There are a lot of great drinks
in the category,” said Watters. “I
wanted to sell things for evening
drinks that we use to decompress,
I stick to what I drink in the
evenings in place of traditional
wines, spirits and beers.”
Currently, Spirited Away is
open in-store and offers local
delivery to certain areas of Manhattan.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic,
Watters knew that having
a delivery option was necessary at
the moment. In the future, Watters
hopes to be able to not rely on
delivery as much.
“Based on my own experience
of wanting to buy drinks in this
time, I was having to order them
online because there was no
brick-and-mortar store,” said Watters.
“Having the store lets people
come in, read labels, have someone
talk to them — they get that
guided experience that you don’t
get online. My vision was more of
the brick-and-mortar experience,
which is more desired. In the
coming months, maybe we’ll be
able to lean on that heavier.”
When it comes to choosing to
drink non-alcoholic spirits, Watters
is not out to change anyone’s
minds. If alcohol works for you,
Watters isn’t looking to make you
change your preferences — even
he still enjoys an alcoholic beverage
from time to time. However,
Watters wants his shop to be a
resource for people who are looking
to try something new.
“For me, as I was thinking
more about what I was eating
and drinking, exercising, and
living life, the data was there and
the info was there that informed
my decision to drink less,” said
Watters. “People can make their
own decisions for what’s right for
them. If you decide you want to
try non-alcoholic beverages or
want to drink less, we are here to
help guide you.”
Though the store has been
open for a short amount of time,
Watters is hopeful for the future
of not just his store, but for the
alcohol-free cocktail industry.
Spirited Away is located at 153
Ludlow St. in the Lower East Side
and is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
daily. For more information, visit
www.spiritedaway.us.
18 January 14, 2021 Schneps Media
/www.spiritedaway.us
/www.spiritedaway.us
