Person Behind the Place: Todd Glass

Person Behind The Place: Todd Glass

Owner | Story in a Bottle Wines

Todd Glass was a storyteller long before he became a wine store owner. A communications specialist by trade, Glass’ career shift was spurred on by his love of unique wines and his son’s fondness for Downtown Bellevue. He opened Story in a Bottle to connect small vineyards and local consumers together while sharing lesser-known, high-quality imports with the community. Today, the shop is known not only for its thoughtfully curated selection, but for fostering a welcoming space for wine education and discovery. Read on to learn all about his unique business model, connection to Downtown Bellevue, and personal recommendations for the holidays.

What inspired you to open Story in a Bottle?

Wine has been a hobby and passion of mine for over 20 years. In that time, it’s something I’ve truly immersed myself in by taking classes, reading literature, and getting to know winemakers. When I reached a point in my career where it was time to make big decisions and decide if I wanted to stay, I quit my corporate job and went to work for a wine retailer in Seattle. I loved it and eventually realized I could do it myself. My wife and I decided we wanted to fill a gap in the market with imported wines that are not typically available in Washington. We hoped to find small, family producers that we could develop close relationships with.

Why did you decide to open up a wine shop in Washington?

Washington is a great place to open a wine store because it is the only state that allows you to have both an import and retail business instead of only one. Everywhere else is still affected by old prohibition laws. If I were to solely have a retail store, the margins would be very thin – it’s hard to profit without import. Typically, when a retail store sells a bottle of wine, they bought it from a distributor and there’s a large markup. When we are both the distributor and the retailer, the prices are fairer.

What sets Story in a Bottle apart from other local wine retailers?

So many things! Number one, we directly import, which streamlines the process from vineyard to store. I’ve been to all of our producers’ farms and gotten to know them not just as winemakers, but as people. That way, we are able to harness the story behind every bottle of wine and introduce it to our customers. My wife and I both worked in communications and pride ourselves on our storytelling abilities.

Every Saturday at 1 p.m. we host a themed tasting. We try anything from Chilean to South African to French wines, and people get to learn about how subtle changes can make a huge difference. It’s become a popular sort of salon that people have started to love. So much of our customer base includes younger professionals wanting to learn more about wine and this is a great opportunity for them to do that.

Tell me about some of the challenges you've faced as a small business owner.

When I started, I felt confident in my knowledge of wine, but didn’t exactly know how to run a business. It’s nerve-wracking sometimes and there have been bumps in the road. We were delayed in opening for several months due to a building issue and had to get creative to work around it. So, we ended up becoming more focused on distribution for our import company than we had initially planned. You just have to roll with it -- there’s always going to be something you don’t see coming.

What advice would you give to young people looking to open a small business?

When you do this, you really have to be honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. Once you’ve identified them, you hire around them. There were organizational and marketing tasks that would’ve been disastrous if I had tried to do them myself. Always ask for help. You don’t need to do everything.

Where do you see the shop in 3-5 years?

Hopefully, we will continue to expand, as we’ve really become a part of the neighborhood. A lot of our most loyal customers live in and around Bellevue and we're seeing more coming in from Seattle and the greater King County area. This is great because we don’t want Story in a Bottle to just to be a Bellevue store, but a destination for anyone looking for a more curated wine experience.

What wines or pairings would you recommend as we enter the holiday season? Any special offerings you’d like people to know about?

Champagne is always a good gift! One thing I highly recommend is called Franciacorta. The grapes used are grown in Lombardy, Italy, so it’s not technically champagne, but it is made using the exact same classical method. By doing a second fermentation, the sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide, creating the bubbles. So, it’s just like champagne, but at a fraction of the price.

We’re offering holiday specials of two-packs that pair well together. We also do corporate gift giving and are excited about that.

How do you stay involved with the Bellevue community?

I’ve gotten to know some of the business owners in the neighborhood and they’ve been great to connect with. My son also loves collecting sports cards, so we spend a lot of time at the Collector’s Corner. He loves it so much that he was the one who had the idea to open here in Bellevue.

I’ve tried a lot of the restaurants – Itadaki Yakinaku and La Mar are so exciting to me. It’s fun to see the area growing and expanding and bringing in interesting new spots.

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Person Behind The Place is part of the Heart of Bellevue: our campaign to showcase local businesses while connecting you with stories of activity, creativity and recovery. Find out about our campaign and explore more of what’s happening around Downtown.