Crystal Wine & Spirits Shoppe
20-22 Mountain Avenue Unit G
Bloomfield, CT

Square footage: 2,700

Years in operation: 1 year

By Sara Capozzi

New store owners—and husband-and-wife team—Deanna Kingland and Steve Parris turned a longtime dream into reality when they purchased Crystal Wine & Spirits Shoppe, which officially opened in July of 2022. Conveniently located in Bloomfield’s Ocean State Plaza, the retail space has operated as a package store for 74 years.

Upon purchasing the shop, the couple set to work making it orderly and appealing for shoppers. The couple prioritizes having a welcoming atmosphere and friendly customer service, going above and beyond to listen to customers and order products based on their requests.

“We cater to everybody [and] most of our population here is a very diverse crowd of people,” Kingland said. One of their regular customers even used to work for the shop’s original owner decades ago. “There’s a woman who shops here. Her name is Muriel and she actually worked 30 or 40 years ago for the initial owner of Crystal Wine.”

Shoppers from Bloomfield, West Hartford, Simsbury and Granby, as well as store regulars, often congregate in the shop to chat or watch the game on the store TV. “We love interacting with the customers,” she said. “That interaction and that rapport is so huge for us. That type of relationship is what we want. The goal is for us to treat every customer like a VIP. We want them to feel welcome. We want them to know that we’re listening
to them.”

They have completely revamped the store’s selection in their first year, Kingland explained, bringing in wines from Connecticut and new selections from around the world. They’ve also added to the craft beer inventory, offering items from local craft brewers, such as Thomas Hooker Brewery, which is located just a few miles away.

“We upgraded and we’ve got international stock, wines, beer, low-calorie, so we cater to everybody, especially now that a lot of people are going into the low-cal and vegan and organic … we really want to have a competitive advantage, be ahead of the game for that,” Kingland said.

New seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails are in demand. The team stocks local spirits such as Waypoint Spirits, along with the biggest of brand names. Tequila and rum, of which they carry bottles from all over the world, are popular choices too.

Longtime residents of Bloomfield, Kingland still works as a business analyst at a nearby insurance company. Parris had spent many years in the trucking industry before taking on their shared endeavor. He now spends his days working at the shop and Kingland helps out on nights and weekends.

The couple works together well. “We have separate skills, but when we combine them, we make a really good team,” Kingland said. She has always enjoyed wine, taking time to learn more through her personal interest over the years, which translates well now that she has her own shop. She also enjoys finding out about new products through customer requests and her own research.

“We enjoy this,” Kingland said. “We like learning about the new products, the trends that are coming out; it’s just so exciting when something new comes out and we bring it to the store.”