OTTAWA, Canada (February 22, 2019) Buyers & Cellars Wine Purveyors Inc., Ontario’s newest boutique wine agency, is extremely pleased to announce that Margaret Hobbs has joined their ownership and management team. Margaret will be responsible for expanding supplier and Liquor Board relationships and contributing to the effectiveness of operations. “In my 30 years of working in restaurants, hospitality and wine, I have come across few people as passionate, respected and driven as Margaret,” said Rob Nellis, Founder. “She is precisely the type of person we want to work with at Buyers & Cellars and I am thrilled that she has accepted the invitation to join us, adding an element of experience and expertise that will help us build something truly great. Welcome aboard Margaret!” Margaret is well recognized as a strategic, analytical, creative entrepreneur with a track record of success in multiple beverage alcohol categories and distribution channels.
“I am thrilled to be joining the exceptional team at Buyers & Cellars, whose integrity, wine expertise, exciting strategic vision and demonstrated commitment to customers and producers alike will help establish an entirely new generation of relationships in this wonderful, and very personal, industry,” said Margaret.
Previously CEO of Hobbs & Co Wine Merchants Inc., a firm originally founded by her parents, Margaret developed and implemented an aggressive expansion plan at Hobbs & Co. that added beer, cider, RTD and spirits to an existing and well-respected portfolio of Canadian and international wines, and that increased channel distribution to include LCBO General List, Vintages Essentials, Wholesale (Grocery), Products of the World/eCommerce, MBLL and the Independent Wine Merchants Group of Manitoba. In 2017, through her leadership and business development efforts, Hobbs & Co. secured 18 new permanent & seasonal listings at LCBO and at MBLL (Manitoba). That same year, one of the agency’s brands received an LCBO Elsie Award for “Best New Product Launch (Spirits & RTD)”. In addition to leading an 18-member sales, marketing and administrative team, Margaret fostered long-term supplier, client and Liquor Board relationships.
“Margaret’s substantial experience will be an invaluable asset to our team. I look forward not only to her practical contribution, but also to working with the same personality who has established both business relationships and friendships throughout the industry,” noted Nellis.
