Business Beat: Work proceeds on Longview wine storage, social club

A March opening is expected for a new wine social club and climate-controlled wine storage facility on Judson Road in Longview.

Noah and Mary Yoder are renovating a former house as the home of Flatt 55, which will be the first wine storage facility in Longview.

The house at 1900 Judson Road was built in the late 1940s by the Johnston family, according to Noah Yoder and online appraisal district records. It’s tucked away from the road on about 3 acres of land with ducks from a nearby pond roaming around on the rear of the property. Noah Yoder said the house still features the hand-hewn timbers it was constructed with from North or South Carolina. He also said it was built with Clinker bricks that have black marks on them because they were burned in the San Francisco fire in 1906. 

“It’s a wine social club,” Noah Yoder said. “You have to buy a membership to use the facility.”

He has not yet determined how many memberships will be available. A chef’s kitchen is being added on one side of the house that will have seating for 25 people. Members may rent the room, bring their own chef and host parties and other events there. 

Mary Yoder, a registered nurse, said the entrance to the social club will feature a lobby where members can meet with clients or sit and work.

“It’s pretty much like a fancy hotel lobby,” she said. 

The business also will sell boutique wines from wineries that are too small to have their own distribution systems. That means they are limited supply wines. 

“When we sell out of one, we’ll go to another,” Noah Yoder said. “It’s kind of unique in that sense.”

When renovations are complete, the business will include a 2,000-square-foot climate-controlled wine cooler that will hold 50,000-60,000 bottles of wine. It will feature about 250 wine lockers of various sizes, with the largest walk-in locker measuring 40 square feet. 

The business also will accept shipments of wine for customers, Noah Yoder said, explaining that people join wine clubs and then get automatic shipments. They might have wine cellars in their homes but run out of room, or they just have some they want to keep for years. 

Noah Yoder is retired but previously owned Yoder Construction in Longview for 35 years. He also owns climate-controlled storage facilities, which is how he became aware of the wine storage industry.

He and Mary said they’ve visited other wine storage businesses in Tyler, Shreveport and Dallas, for instance, but theirs is the first in Longview.

“They only do storage,” Mary Yoder said and don’t have a lounge or kitchen.

The Yoders have hired Julie Ober as membership director. She previously was a manager at Harley’s and then worked for 10 years in wine sales with Republic National Distributing Co. 

“She brings a lot to the table,” Mary Yoder said.

Wine tastings and education opportunities will be offered at Flatt 55, which also will feature an outdoor patio area.

New Etsy-style market

Annie Edwards has introduced a new shopping event to East Texas with a market dedicated to people’s homemade products.

The first East Texas Etsy Market was held during the Longview Mall’s recent Boo and Brew.

The next East Texas Etsy Market will be staged 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov 30 at Longview Mall. That’s the same day the mall will celebrate its annual Christmas Tree lighting, from 5:30-8 p.m.

The East Texas Etsy Market — named for the popular website where people sell their homemade items — will be held the first weekend of the month on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting in December

Edwards and her husband, Devin, recently moved to the Longview area. He was born and raised here, and they met in San Diego when he was in the Navy.

She said there was always a “crazy” demand for homemade items in San Diego. That city had a similar monthly market as the events she is organizing,

In San Diego, she made and sold candles. Her candle business is on hold for now until the couple get settled in from their move.

When she moved here, Edwards realized there were a lot of women who don’t work outside the home but have home-based businesses, she said. The market will help those women make some sort of income, Edwards said.

“We want to bring that here because not only is it something that’s very popular around here, it helps people have some sort of income,” she said. 

Deadline for registration for each market is the Monday before the event. Vendor fee is $75. 

For information, email Edwards at [email protected] or visit East Texas Etsy Market on Facebook at tinyurl.com/4xzyban6 .

Jewelry store

Valliani Jewelers is expected to open in Longview Mall in the coming weeks.

The company is remodeling the space previously occupied by Gordon Jewelers.

Valliani Jewelry started in 1999 in California.

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