Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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Orders flow on word-of- mouth

Burke Campbell,  Financial Post

John Woods/National Post

Genuwine Cellars (genuwinecellars.com)

Founder: Robb Denomme

Location: Winnipeg

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When he was 17 years old, Robb Denomme signed on to help friend Lance Kingma
build a custom wine cellar. Word of mouth has kept the orders flowing: Referrals
alone propel Genuwine Cellars, a company that designs and manufactures deluxe
wine cellars for landmarks such as the CN Tower, sports and music celebrities,
and the mega-rich.

"The super-rich aren't always well-known, but they enjoy wine and they
require customized, climate-controlled cellars to protect their investment," Mr.
Denomme says. Wine is not only a drink, but also an investment: The right ones
will appreciate in value with time.

Hundreds to thousands of bottles of wine are stored in these splendid rooms
that range from a modest $5,600 to more than $1-million. For those with more
simple needs and budget, Genuwine offers quality fixtures for far less.

Mr. Denomme quickly realized potential clients needed more than drawings to
visualize a completed cellar. He adapted virtual reality software to illustrate
Genuwine Cellar's designs in 3-D, which also helps workers envision the finished
product. This fall, Mr. Denomme expects to conjure the ultimate showroom: "We
hope to fly prospective customers to Winnipeg where they can experience a
"virtual cellar" that they can see, walk through, and change at will. (Perhaps
StarTrek's famous 'holodeck' isn't so far off?)

With the economy in turmoil, Mr. Denomme worried the company would experience
a slowdown. Instead, business in the past few months, has seen an upswing.
"We've been very fortunate," he says. "Even with this recession, business is
booming."

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