A Family Legacy at Wilbur’s

Walk into Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Fort Collins, CO, and two things are immediately evident: This is as clean and well kept of a beverage alcohol retailer as you will ever see. And this is a business with a true family atmosphere.

Both are to the point, of course. Wilbur’s was founded with family in mind.

In October 2000, alcohol industry veteran Dennis Dinsmore (formerly of Diageo/Schieffelin & Somerset) purchased a struggling liquor store with a business partner. The idea was for Dinsmore’s son Mat, then in his early twenties, to buy into the business eventually, as well. That came to fruition in 2002, in the middle of a difficult market due to the recession at the beginning of our new century.

A challenging economic landscape kept business modest for the first few years. Conditions were poised to improve in 2004 when word came out that a Whole Foods was coming into Fort Collins. Sensing opportunity, the Dinsmores took on additional partners to fund an ambitious relocation. They moved from their original 13,000-square-foot spot to a new, 24,000-square-foot site next door to the popular grocery giant. Another large supermarket nearby, King Soopers, further ensured steady traffic.

With this new location and a doubling of size came a name change. Wilbur’s Total Beverage was chosen as an inside joke about a family friend’s middle name, and also because the Dinsmores wanted something that sounded unique and whimsical. Whatever it takes to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

For Mat, Wilbur’s was a continuation of learning the family trade from his father.

“I grew up in the business,” Mat said. “Dad and I started this business 25 years ago. I got to work for my hero for 15 years [before Dennis retired from Wilbur’s]. It’s truly a family business. I miss working with my dad. Certainly, there were aspects that were challenging. But if I’m half as good as my father, then I would call it a success.”

Mat is part of great tradition in the industry. Wilbur’s is a member of the Wine and Spirits Guild of America, a 77-year-old organization comprised of market leaders across the country. Many members are multigenerational businesses. Attending Guild meetings, Mat is not alone these days in sensing a transitional moment.

“You’re watching a passing of the baton on the retailer side of the industry right now,” he says. “All of a sudden, I find myself feeling like one of the old guys, even though I still feel like I’m 26.”

“I grew up in the business,” says second-generation Wilbur’s Owner Mat Dinsmore.

A Clean Environment

Wilbur’s is known for its clean interior, which was by design from the beginning. In 2004, Wilbur’s brought in an interior decorator to make their big space come across as warm and comforting. 

“We figured out early on that around 60% of our customers were women,” Mat explains. “Women are the decision-makers in their households. So, we wanted to make our store feel warm and comfortable. This could be something as easy as having plants in the store. At the same time, we wanted to feel like a Big Box store without feeling sterile.”

In this way, Wilbur’s was part of a broader evolution of liquor stores in the late 90s and early 00s. Across the country, beverage alcohol retailers turned away from the dark, sketchy, grungy spots of the past, and became bright, clean, family-friendly environments.

“We had quite a shift in the 2000s,” Mat recalls. “We were one of the first liquor stores with a website.”

Achieving the balance at Wilbur’s between warm and homey while also filling 24,000 square feet is a constant effort.

“Our staff is cleaning throughout the day, all the little things,” Mat explains. “We also have a cleaning crew come in two to three times a week. We’re not as great at that, so I like having a professional handle that. We have a floor here that’s 20 years old, and it’s starting to show it’s age. How can we keep that and the rest of the store popping?”

“This October, we’ve been in our location here for 21 years,” he adds. “There are signs of wear and tear. We try to replace the front of the store every two to three years. We clean the ductwork. We would start looking old and tired if we didn’t do all this.”

In theory, relocating to a newer, more modern space would seem attractive for Mat and his team. But the favorable reality of their location — between two huge chain grocery stores — makes moving an unappealing decision.

“The truth is, there’s nowhere in the state like us,” Mat says, describing their advantageous spot. “Fort Collins is also a college town, so we have a great labor pool. It’s not a realistic option to relocate.”

Adding to the beneficial setting, a nearby Big Box store that was empty is now being renovated into apartments. While the active construction site will likely cause short-term headaches for Wilbur’s, in the long run, the extra foot traffic will be a boon.

College Town

Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University (CSU), among other colleges. About 62,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate programs in the city.

For Wilbur’s, this represents a bit of a tradeoff. While CSU provides plenty of young employees, and the store does get some business from the colleges, “We’re on the wrong side of town,” Mat says. The university is on the other end of Fort Collins, where a competitor does good business catering to the nearby college crowd.

“The student housing is over there, and not a lot of students are shopping at Whole Foods,” Mat says. “We do get some of the discerning students shopping in here, however. And, in general, younger consumers are drinking less these days.”

Wilbur’s is known for supporting its community, and that extends to the university. Mat guest lectures in business classes, explaining to students the realities of the modern economy and job market. He stresses realistic strategies for seeking employment after graduation, and the importance of expanding one’s earnings with side hustles.

Naturally, these classroom appearances are also a recruiting tool, as well as a learning exercise for Mat.

“It allows me to stay connected with the younger generation,” he says. “I can get a gauge on where the kids are at: Who’s using cannabis, who’s drinking what.”

Hiring and Training

Mat is honest about the downward state of the beverage alcohol retail industry. “We haven’t had to do a lot of hiring thee last two years,” he says. “We’re in a business that’s in a downturn. We’ve been going through a rightsizing of our business. We’ve cut our staff in half.”

That said, some hiring does still happen, when necessary, of course. “You have to have customer service abilities, and we want people who want to be here,” Mat says. “If you’re not an outgoing person, you’re not going to be here.”

 Wilbur’s has benefitted from good hirings years ago that have paid dividends for some time.

“We have three people who have been here for 25 years each,” Mat says. “Four employees have been here for 15 years each, and another handful have been here for eight to ten years each.”

Employing so many staffers with impressive longevity is a primary factor behind the family atmosphere at Wilbur’s. “It’s not perfect, and it’s a bit of a dysfunctional family here, but that’s what you should expect if you’ve been working long enough with people anywhere,” Mat says with a laugh.

His daughter Olivia is currently a student in the CSU system. She began working at Wilbur’s just weeks before this magazine feature interview.

“It’s really fun,” Mat says of working with his daughter at the family business. “She and her brother have grown up here. I’ve got pictures of the two of them helping around the store when they were four and six years old. Now she comes in on Sundays and helps. That’s three generations of the same family at our business. Not a lot of families have done that.”

Current Trends

Like most others in beverage alcohol retail, Mat sees our current era as a time of change. Especially among younger consumers, whose shifts in drinking tendencies have greatly affected the industry.

“There’s the obsession with THC drinks,” he says. “We’re not going down that road yet. There’s insurance and credit card problems. But lots of other places are trying to do it. It’s the Wild Wild West in that space now. It’s something our industry should be selling, though. We’re good at age-restricted products.”

Wine, he sees, as having a “big problem now. There’s a glut of wine out there. We’re getting calls all the time about taking wines for ten cents on the dollar. We just can’t do it. It’s really slowed. Boomers [who largely drive wine sales] are tapping out.”

Considering his SKU mix, Mat says that the store used to be 50% wine, 25% spirits and 25% beer. Now, that has switched to 45% spirits, 35% wine and less than 20% for beer.

RTDs remain strong. “But the growth in RTDs is not offsetting the decline in other categories,” Mat says. “And they’ve become saturated. We’re not getting ten new RTDs per week like we were two years ago.”

Part of the problem is changes in Colorado alcohol laws that have taken effect in recent years. Grocery stores gained the ability to sell beer in 2019, wine in 2023 and hard liquor this year. As expected, this has eaten into the bottom lines of all independent beverage alcohol retailers in the state.

Meanwhile, the ongoing pullback has hurt all three tiers. “Colorado craft distilleries that had been performing well and now struggling,” Mat observes. “Perhaps there’s room for improvement in their prices.”

The alcohol industry is well removed now from the boom times of the pandemic. “Through Covid and afterwards, some people got greedy,” Mat says. “Now, people are out of money.”

Add in the consumer move towards nonalcoholic beverages, and the rise of GLP-1 drugs that cause people to drink less, and things have become odd out there.

“Suddenly I’m in a weird spot, where after a quarter century in the industry, I feel like I don’t know anything about the industry anymore,” Mat says with a laugh. “We are having some real struggles. But people have drank for thousands of years. The industry isn’t going anywhere.”

On a more positive note, another trend that Mat sees is a shift in leadership demographics.

“I think the future in the industry is going to be owed by women,” he says. “There’s so many great female operators and executives now, so many incredibly talented women running major companies.”

Charity Work

Wilbur’s has a reputation for charity work and remains engaged with the community in numerous ways. “If you’re not involved, get involved,” Mat says. It’s a win-win, as your business benefits the area around you, supporting those in need while building positive publicity and goodwill.

Mat sits on the board of a local hospital, and his store belongs to the local chamber of commerce. Wilbur’s take part in charities that help a breast cancer fund. Money raised provides aid in several ways, including helping women afford a babysitter while they go and get a mammogram.

“We’re big supporters of the Pathways Hospice,” Mat says. This includes 25 years of Wilbur’s hosting A Vintage Affair, an annual alcohol and dinner fundraiser for Pathways.

“We’ve raised nearly two million dollars through the years through fundraisers,” Mat says. “And there’s countless charities and causes that we help by giving them product at wholesale cost.”

“As proud of our business and our team as we are, I am just as proud of the work that we do in our community and everything we do to give back,” he adds. “To be part of my community is the single best thing that I can do.”

Kyle Swartz is editor of Beverage Dynamics. Reach him at kswartz@epgacceleration.com. Read his recent piece, The State of U.S. Whiskey at Kentucky Bourbon Fest 2025.

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