Meet Mike O’Connell of Upper Falls Liquors

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike O’Connell.

Mike, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We’re a third generation, family owned and operated business. My great grandparents came over from Italy and opened a small, specialty food market/butcher in Auburndale.

My grandfather then bought a liquor license and converted the store and eventually bought two more stores, one in Wayland and one in Newton Upper Falls. We just acquired our fourth store in Needham about five years ago. I grew up in the business, working retail all through high school and college. I really fell in love with food and wine after college and attended culinary school and worked in kitchens. In 2008, I left the industry and started working full-time at my family’s shops. I fell in love with wine and sales and never looked back. There’s just so much that you can learn every single day.

I’m now the wine buyer for the chain and I run the email and marketing program for the stores.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working in a family business is always a difficult task. There are always struggles when you’re alongside your parents, siblings, cousins, uncles on a day-to-day basis. We have to work well together and adapt and change along with the times to keep our stores relevant.

Please tell us about Upper Falls Liquors.
We specialize in customer service. That’s first and foremost. We want you to have a hands on experience where you can walk into the shop and tell me what you’re making for dinner and I can direct you towards the perfect wine or craft beer. We have an expansive, well-curated selection of wines, spirits, and craft beer, tons of experience and knowledge, but it’s the one on one interaction and personal customer experience that we really strive for.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory of childhood is probably Christmas Day. Not necessarily for the obvious reasons, but after a long busy season where my father was always working late, especially on Christmas Eve we got to close the shop and sit around and enjoy our family together. As I got older and worked in the shop, it was always a nice relaxing break and a fun time to celebrate and open some really nice wine.

Contact Info:

• Address: 150 Needham Street, Newton, MA 02464
• Website: www.thepostscript.com
• Phone: 6179699200
• Email: postscriptwine@gmail.com
• Instagram: @rooftopgourmet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Upper-Falls-Discount-Wine-Spirits-154501879435/?ref=bookmarks
• Twitter: @rooftopgourmet

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