SWAMPSCOTT — The mother-daughter team running Vinnin Liquors have adapted in order to succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marge Ansara, 91, has owned and operated Vinnin Liquors for more than 45 years, and her daughter, Angela Ansara, has served as the store’s president for 8. When the demand for deliveries picked up during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ansaras were ready to adjust their business strategy. So, they hired a couple new delivery drivers, and Angela pitched in on long-distance deliveries.
“I was doing deliveries, my husband was doing deliveries,” said Angela. “We were delivering all the way to Amesbury, Boxford, and (down to) Boston.”
Due in part to these changes, Vinnin Liquors has done well despite the pandemic.
“The liquor business has been doing quite well,” said Marge, though she pointed out that it was very difficult to see customers who had lost jobs and had fallen on hard times.
The entrepreneurial spirit has long been a feature of the Ansara family. Marge’s mother worked as a seamstress at a factory, and one day, she heard the owners complaining about running the business.
“She turned around to them and said, ‘I’ll buy it,’” said Margaret. And she did.
Marge started working for her family’s businesses at a young age, and eventually branched out into business for herself, purchasing Vinnin Liquors on Humphrey Street in the early 1970s and relocating to its current location on Paradise Road in 1975.
“A woman starting a business was frowned upon in her age,” said Angela. “It took a lot of work to open that store.”
Angela grew up around the business and, after graduating school in 1994, started working full-time for the business before eventually becoming the store president and an owner in 2012.
“She’s really good,” said Marge. “She really is her mother. I’m very pleased with her.”
At 91, Marge still works in her store doing a little bit of everything — greeting her long-time customers and assisting her staff.
“When I was a kid, I used to work every day from eight to midnight,” she said. “My parents felt so sorry for me that they used to bring me dinner every night.”
To continue that tradition, Marge now makes lunches for her crew almost every day.
Angela touted Vinnin Liquors’ affordable prices and personal customer service.
The business offers more than 1,000 varieties of beer, including many from local breweries, along with wines, liquors and cigars. It also offers its own custom beer, liquor and wine gifts for all occasions.
“We do things a little bit different, to be unique,” said Angela.
Angela has a pair of young twins, who may end up continuing the tradition of entrepreneurship as future owners of the family business.
“You never know,” said Angela. “Hopefully [Vinnin Liquors] could get passed down and they could be good business partners someday.”
