One of Charleston’s most unique cocktail spots opens this month on King Street.
Self-identified “retailista” Emily Heintz always wanted to open her own retail store. And with over 30 years of experience in retail and sales, her longtime dream has come to fruition.
With an open date of Feb. 14, Heintz is opening her first shop, Sèchey, selling so-called “alternative spirits” at 420 King St., next to Blue Bicycle Books.
Sèchey launched as an online store in September 2021, with pop-ups at Second Sunday on King.
The journey leading to Sèchey started when Heintz purchased a house in Charleston in 2019. She didn’t live in the house quite yet, but knew she wanted property in the city. While living in San Francisco, she rented her Charleston home. But when it was time for a change of scenery, she moved into the house in 2021 with the goal to open her own shop — an idea that sat in the back of her mind for years.
“I had my own store in my early twenties,” said Heintz. “But e-commerce was a lot different back then. You didn’t have the same support system or access to capital, so we ended up closing that business.”
She didn’t know what the store was going to be, but knew it was time. “It was a struggle. It was always, ‘Where’s your idea?’”
The inspiration came to her when, during quarantine in the early months of the pandemic, she went on cleanses and started looking for alcohol-free spirits and cocktails to drink at home.
“COVID was tough,” she said. “We were all drinking so much and after a while, I quit drinking to stay present with my day and make clear decisions. I was in San Francisco, away from my family and had a house in Charleston. I needed to stay present.”
The amount of research she had done herself, combined with the connections she had made with non-alcoholic spirit brands, Heintz had come to realize a hole in the market for the product. There was a demand for non-alcoholic spirits, but not a single place to source from.
“I felt that if I’m feeling this way, I’m sure there’s so many other people feeling this too, and want alternatives to drinking,” added Heintz. “So I started to play around with the idea and came up with the word ‘Sèchey’ because ‘sèche’ means ‘dry’ in French and sèche was already taken, but sèchey was available and its tied to being dry, so I said, ‘you know what? Let’s do it.’”
On it’s website, Sèchey is described simply as, “Dryish.”
To determine the products carried at Sèchey, it was Heintz’s own research during the conception of the e-commerce store. She would buy directly from the brand to taste, then reach out and explain her vision for Sèchey.
“I started developing relationships with brands very early on and explaining my vision,” she said. “And when we launched the website in September, from there, people are finding me now.”
Once Sèchey launched online, it was always in the plans to open up a physical location. But with Charleston being a craft beer and bar-heavy city, especially downtown, opening a store selling non-alcoholic spirits was a difficult task.
“I’ve been looking since July [of last year], knowing I wanted to open up this little store,” she said about finding a location. “We had an incredibly difficult time, given we’re a start-up, people don’t understand the space, I’m new to the city and don’t know anyone and we’ve only been in business six months.”
“We were getting turned down constantly,” she added, until a colleague referred Heintz to Prime South Group.
With a space secured, Heintz already has a vision for the interior design. At the beginning of the year, Sèchey held a pop-up at The Port at the Restoration Hotel. It was an open space, with shelves along the walls. In the back of the space was a bar, where one could order a cocktail using one of the many non-alcoholic spirits the store carries. The cocktail menu itself was all non-alcoholic. However, the option to add alcohol was there.
“You don’t have to ask for a mocktail because the cocktail menu is the cocktail menu. The option to add alcohol is just there, which is the opposite at bars and restaurants,” said Heintz. “We know we want to do part of the store as a bar and food concept that’s flipping the script with the bar and having alcohol as an option,” Heintz said. “But we’re still deciding what’s going to work best.”
“At the pop-up, it worked really well. It didn’t matter what was in your glass,” she added. “It just removes that judgment and the ability for people to say stuff like, ‘why aren’t you drinking?’ There’s a lot of stigma and we want to get away from it when someone says they don’t drink.”
Other plans for the store include workshops and classes, according to Heintz.
Sèchey will be located on 420 King Street. Curbside pick-up is available Mon.-Fri. from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Call 854-202-1443 prior to pick-up. Free local delivery within an 8-mile radius of downtown Charleston or $5 delivery to the metro area. Official retail hours coming soon. Order online at sechey.com.
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