At the end of last year, Charleston-based beverage store Sèchey teased that its curated products would be available in a mass retailer — namely, Target. Now, 1,300 stores across the country are stocked with five nonalcoholic (NA) beverage packs exclusive to Target, just in time for dry January.
Owner Emily Heintz launched Sèchey in 2021 and opened the first brick-and-mortar Sèchey location on King Street in 2022, eventually moving locations several times before landing at 540 King St. Now, in addition to shopping Sèchey’s curated selection of no and low-ABV drinks on King Street, you can find some of Sèchey’s best-selling brands at your local Target, sold in exclusive variety packs.
The Target collaboration also marks the launch of Sèchey’s line of dealcoholized wine, which was created by Heintz with one of the world’s leading wineries specializing in the dealcoholization process. The holiday release of Sèchey wine features a sparkling cuvée blanc, still rosé and pinot noir.
Heintz described Sèchey’s exclusive Target products as a “shop within a shop,” with the goal of introducing NA products to a wider audience. “It can be very confusing, with so many options,” she said of the rapidly growing NA market. She hopes the Target collaboration will open doors to a much wider audience of future NA drinkers.
Locally, the curated selection can be found on shelves at Targets downtown and in North Charleston and Summerville.
Filling a niche
In a 2022 Charleston City Paper interview, Heintz explained she saw a hole in the market for folks looking for a singular source from which to shop NA beverages. “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,” she said.
With a collaboration with one of the nation’s largest retailers, it’s clear that Heintz’s hunch was a good one.
The five best-selling Sèchey brands involved in the Target collaboration include Surely, an NA wine made with California grapes that use the same fermentation process as traditional winemaking, and Ghia, which is inspired by Mediterranean aperitivo culture and features The Le Spritz Variety Pack, created exclusively for Sèchey with flavors like ginger, lime and salt and sumac and chili.
“Guests should have confidence they’ll like what’s in there,” said Heintz of the specially selected Target products. That confidence stems from quality products that actually taste good — so good that even booze-focused customers could find something they like. “We don’t want anyone to think you can’t shop us if you drink alcohol,” said Heintz.
And it’s clear, if a January 2023 Forbes article is any indication, that NA consumers aren’t just fully sober folks. Kate Dingwall wrote: “One of the biggest drivers of the non-alcoholic market isn’t abstainers — it’s regular drinkers looking to break up their alcohol with thoughtful, delicious no- or low-proof options.” As Heintz said, NA bevs are “just another tool in your shed.”
Beyond booze
While it may feel counterintuitive, Heintz said in the new year Sèchey is going to start carrying more alcoholic products. Adding alcohol into Sèchey’s inventory works with the company’s mission, though, said Heintz, who emphasized that Sèchey is inspired by the French word for dry, but her store is “dry-ish.”
“We’re a modern bottle shop; we have a beer and wine license,” said Heintz. “We’re a little more dry-ish, with a small very curated assortment [of alcohol].”
The store also carries hemp-infused products, and Heintz said adding in this third element and experimenting with different brands has been fun for both her and the consumers. “People want a holistic approach. We drink for a variety of reasons. Letting people know of alternatives like chocolates and gummies and all those things … if you are going to consume [something], what do you want to get out of it? Is it a feeling? Is it to help you sleep or give you energy or a little buzz?”
Now, no matter what feeling you’re after, you can find NA drinks to celebrate at Targets across the country, created and curated by Sèchey. When you cheers in the new year, you can feel confident that you’ll have a wider variety of beverages from which to choose. As Heintz said: “People are realizing you can toast with something that’s not water or coffee.”
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