Herbert and Rist Liquors Celebrates 90th Anniversary in Southampton Village

J. Gerald Herbert was a savvy businessman, someone who knew a good opportunity when he saw one.

So when Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933, he immediately opened Herbert’s Liquor Store the very same day, on Jobs Lane in Southampton Village, in the small building that is now home to the Topiaire Flower Shop (Several years later it moved a few shopfronts to the west, to its current location on Jobs Lane).

The business — which was renamed Herbert and Rist in 1965, several years after John “Jack” Rist became a partner — has been thriving ever since, and is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

It is currently run by three capable partners, who all have decades of experience in the wine and spirits business, and have been working at the store for years.

John Rist Jr. began working at the store in 1968 as a teenager, starting off as a delivery boy, while John Noonan started there in 1989, while he was a student at nearby Southampton College. Michelle Reilly joined the team in 1997.

The trio became partners along with Jack Rist in 2008. Jack died in 2013, working in the store up to just two days before his death.

In modern times, liquor stores have become ubiquitous, but despite the steady rise in competition, Herbert and Rist has remained a thriving mom-and-pop business.

Reilly, who has a bright and vivacious smile and bubbly personality, summed up what she believes has been the key to their success.

“I think the three of us work really well together,” she said, as customers filtered in and out during mid-day last Friday. “When you walk in here, it’s very comfortable. We have a relaxed environment, we’re very approachable, and we’re knowledgeable. We know what we’re doing. We’ve been doing this a long time.”

A wide range of choice is key as well, Reilly said. “We have wines that are $4 and wines up to $4,000,” she said. “We have something for everybody here.”

Knowledge, tradition and selection are key cornerstones of the business and it shows, particularly in the decor, which is itself a strong visual testament to its rich history in the village. The walls, shelves and front counter are covered in repurposed wine and spirits wooden cases, many of them from decades ago. A Moet and Chandon champagne box that is part of the front counter still bears the faded date, 1947, and the price of a case of champagne at that time — $118 and change — written on the front of the box.

Herbert and Rist was one of the first liquor stores in the country to open after prohibition. The original liquor license, which Noonan has filed away in the back room, lists the business as store number 112.

As might be expected for someone who has been in the business for so many years, Rist has a few good stories to share.

He remembers the challenge of making deliveries years ago, when 4-liter bottles of wine, brands like Gallo and Almaden, were popular items. He’d load them in the family station wagon before making rounds to the homes of clients in Southampton Village and beyond.

“Those things were heavy,” he said. “They don’t even sell them anymore.”

He remembers one night in the early 1970s when customer Marty Richards, who owned one of the biggest houses on Gin Lane, called up the store right before closing time. He was having a party, and had run out of booze. John Rist took the order and drove over to his place. He was invited inside, where the party was going strong — and the Village People were performing.

“I stayed the rest of the night,” he said. “I think I was the last one to leave the party.”

Doing free delivery to East End customers, and delivery to Manhattan as well, has been a cornerstone of the Herbert and Rist business for decades. John Rist jokes that he’s still essentially the delivery boy.

“I like it,” he said. “It gets me out.”

He spends a lot of his time working in the store, as do his partners, who said they inherited their work ethic from the example of John Rist’s father, Jack.

“How hard he worked and how dedicated he was, it really rubbed off,” Noonan said. “When the boss is willing to do whatever it takes to do business, that’s what you do, too.”

In addition to being a hard worker and respected pillar of the business community in Southampton Village, John Rist has also earned a reputation for his stunning artwork and the brilliantly painted wood carvings, many of them of fish, that adorn the walls and window displays of the store. He’s also done intricate carvings on the faces of old pickle barrels, with the family crests, as well as other handmade signs throughout the store, indicating where customers can find whiskey, tequila, red wines, and more.

Vestiges of the early days are still visible throughout the store. There’s the old rotary phone still attached behind the counter, hanging on by a thread, next to a stack of well-worn credit card imprinters.

One thing customers can rely on is that the owners themselves will always be visible and available, and that matters, Reilly said.

“People come in and they see us,” she said. “What we ask our staff to do, we do ourselves, too. We’re hands on.”

Rist, Noonan and Reilly have no plans of retiring any time soon, which means it’s a safe bet that the business will reach its 100th anniversary and beyond. Rist’s daughter, Holly, also works at the store, keeping the family legacy going.

The pride in continuing the tradition of a mom and pop business that local residents can rely on year after year is something all of the partners say matters deeply to them.

“I’m proud to work for a small family business and be part of this,” Reilly said. “It speaks volumes, because that’s really dying in this country, and we still have it.”