Chester Package Store Owner Eric Nelsen with Ruthie.

Chester Package Store
1 N Main Street
Chester, CT

Square footage: 1,800

Years in operation: 27 years

By Sara Capozzi

Set in its namesake historic town center, Chester Package Store has carved out a niche for itself during almost 30 years of business with its friendly customer service, unique selection and comfortable, small-town ambience.

Owner Eric Nelsen purchased the shop through a fortuitous set of events. In the late 1990s, he was working both in the restaurant industry and at his father’s package store, Hub Wine & Liquor, in Bethel. One day, “someone came in the store in Bethel and they made us an offer,” he said. “It wasn’t on the market. And that very same weekend, some friends told us, ‘Hey, that liquor store in Chester is for sale. Why don’t you sell the one in Bethel and now you’ll be closer to where you grew up?’ And here we are 27 years later.”

Nelsen, who grew up on the Connecticut shore, loves the river town of Chester, which is not far from the coast. The shop is situated within Chester’s walkable downtown, with a eclectic mix of cozy shops and independently owned restaurants. The town regularly hosts a variety of events and festivals, closing the streets off to cars and bringing plenty of foot traffic into the store.

Nelsen’s father retired about 15 years ago and Nelsen runs the store day to day with the help of Jerry Beaumier. The shop has plenty of regulars and everyone loves stopping in to see Ruthie, Nelsen’s 11-year-old bulldog, who spends most of her days at the shop. “People that come in, they don’t say hi to us, it’s always, ‘Where’s Ruthie?’” he said. “When you’re that cute, that’s what happens.”

Chester’s river access and many festivals and parks bring in people from out of town as well. “We do discover a lot of new customers here in the summertime,” said Beaumier. “We have a farmers market out here and that brings a lot of new people into the area. They come down for the tomatoes and produce and we’re open and they walk over here and enjoy selecting something. During the summertime when the boating season begins on the river, there’s seven marinas up and down in our little neck of the river here. And people come in for special items and beer.”

Chester Package Store offers a diverse assortment of wines from around the world and a great selection of domestic, imported and craft beers kept cold in the shop’s Beer Cave. “We’re not a huge store, but we have a great selection of wines,” Nelsen said. “I special order wines every week for folks too … I’ve been here so long, some of my customers have become really good friends. A lot of my customers have my cellphone number, so they just text me when they need something.”

Both Nelsen and Beaumier are music enthusiasts — Nelsen plays in a local Americana/bluegrass band — and they make sure to give the store a relaxed and fun atmosphere with music played on the store’s turntable.

The store also offers a Wine of the Month Club. “That’s something we just started over the holidays and it’s fun,” Nelsen said. “I get exposed to a lot of fantastic wines that the average consumer’s not going to be exposed to, so it’s my way of getting to share some of the fun stuff that the salespeople come by and introduce me to.”