I.M. Gan Discount Liquors’ Chris Lamoureux,
Molly Peabody and Owner John Hogan.

I.M. Gan Discount Liquors
380 Warwick Avenue
Warwick, RI

Square footage: 8,500 retail space
12,000 in total with storage

Years in operation: 100 years
17 under current ownership

By Sara Capozzi

I.M. Gan Discount Liquors has operated as a package store since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Named after the original owner’s wife, the business began as a grocery store in the Apponaug section of Warwick, run by the Gan family in the 1800s and early 1900s. In 1995, the owners moved the liquor store to its current location on Warwick Avenue.

Current owner John Hogan and his wife, Diane, purchased the business and building from members of the original family, Bruce and Diane Stein, in 2007. The move was a career change for Hogan, who had worked as a senior vice president at Fidelity Investments. “I always had an interest in owning my own business and running it,” Hogan said. “The career in the financial industry gave me the capital so I could purchase a large store like this.”

I.M. Gan is known as one of the bigger stores in the state, according to Hogan, in both sales and square footage—at 12,000 square feet in total, with 8,500 square feet of retail space. The store offers a wide range of products to suit the diverse tastes of its clientele, from a variety of wines in a range of price points, with higher-end bottles in its wine room, a myriad selection of craft beer and an extensive bourbon selection. “Customers want a one-stop [shop],” he said. “So, you’ve got to have a really good variety and the advantage of a larger store in this state is that you can accommodate customers that have multiple needs.”

The customer experience is paramount at I.M. Gan and Hogan and his team encourage shoppers to request any items they may not see in stock for special order. “We really focus on the customer service. It’s great customer service first, great prices and great selection, that’s our motto,” he said.

I.M. Gan customers enjoy wine tastings in the store’s designated tasting area every Friday and easy ordering and delivery through the store’s website and app. The store offers its own delivery service and also works with Uber Eats and DoorDash to provide delivery within a 15- or 20-minute drive of the store.

I.M. Gan’s closeknit team of employees, some of whom have worked there for a long time, help to give the store its friendly ambience. Hogan’s brother Tom handles the beer purchasing and managing the beer inventory so that John can focus on the spirits and wine categories.

Hogan stays on top of trends through reading trade news and data from distributor and supplier sales representatives and constantly assesses inventory and what he should be changing and carrying more or less of. In the marketplace currently, he said, “I think the biggest challenge in the industry these days is keeping up with the proliferation of brands that are coming out, because if someone comes out with a High Noon that came out several years ago, everyone copies it,” Hogan said.

Hogan said he stays competitive in the marketplace by anticipating which trends consumers will gravitate toward next and making sure to carry those items. “That’s the big thing,” he said. “We’re discount, so our margins are very tight and we have to be conscious of our pricing all the time. You have to have consistency of low prices, so that’s what we focus on.”