Outer Banks Taste of the Beach 2012
March 15-18th
*all events will be held at our Kill Devil Hills store
We will be hosting several events this weekend and hope you will join us!
More information and tickets can be purchased through
http://www.obxtasteofthebeach.com/home.htm
“Red, White & Brew” Wine and Beer Class
$25 Friday, March 16th 5:30-7:30pm
Wine or Beer? Why pick just one. In this exciting class presented by Chip’s and Outer Banks Wine University you will enjoy a selection of red and white wines along with a selection of craft beers!
Join us for this fun and educational class! We'll try 4 different wines, walking through each of the 4 tasting steps, learning about and evaluating each of the wines. You will learn which foods pair the best with each one, sip on some fabulous wines and untangle wines mysteries. Then we will delve into the world of craft beer while we guide you through an introduction of the world of craft beer. Learn about the history or beer, different beer styles and processes all while trying 4 craft beers and comparing styles.
Wine & Chocolate Class
$20 Sat, March 17th 2-4pm
Chip’s and our own Outer Banks Wine University presents an opportunity to learn all about pairing wine with chocolate! In this class you will enjoy 6 different wines paired with a selection of 6 artisan made chocolates while experiencing the joys of combing two of life’s great pleasures. You’ll be guided through each pairing, learning about what cocoa percentages mean and how best to pair your wines as well as having the chance to rate the pairings. There will be chocolates that will appeal to the preferences and tastes of every person. This is a fun, interactive and social event and the perfect excuse to eat chocolate. Prepare to have a blast and indulge in the world of fine wine & chocolate!
Chip’s Mini Wine & Beer Festival
$15 Sat., March 17th 5:30-7:30
Come celebrate St. Patrick’s day weekend with us at our mini wine and beer festival. This event will allow you to taste 20 wines and craft beers. 20 amazing flavors to savor will be available in a fun festival atmosphere. Enjoy some great music, lots of snacks and some wacky Irish fun! There is something for everyone here as wine lovers and beer lovers come together in a tasting frenzy.
TICKETS AT DOOR WILL BE $20
I was recently reading a business magazine which had many articles on great entrepreneurs. One article really struck me. It talked about creating the company you want by visioning. Which is actually something I have always done, but I'm not sure I've been ever so clear as to put it down on paper. Yes, I've written my goals down, written business plans and made action plans for those goals. But this is different. This is writing down what exactly you see happening in the future and thus putting the universe to work in creating that vision. The vision I have for Chip's is great (I only wish you could see it in my head 
) but with the struggles of life, having a family, running a business and trying to create something great things get pushed to the wayside. I am now re-energized to get those visions down on paper and work on creating the future. In my previous job I saw many people that were so beat down, told they couldn't achieve or believed for whatever reason that they couldn't achieve their dreams. I know I've even thought that a time or two. When you finally get that step up, something comes and feels like it knocks you down. Those of you that know us, know that this year personally has not been a good year for us and I've never been one of those people that says, "wow, I'm glad that year is over. 2000 and what-ever was the worst year ever", but it has kinda felt that way this year. I have never been one to listen to the word "no" or "can't" and I believe good things happen to good people and people that work hard towards their goals. There can be many distractions out there and others trying to pull you down, you have to focus and block their negative energy from you. While Chip's is thriving and we were fortunate enough to be able to open a second store this year, my vision for our tasting lounge got thrown to the side. I am now in the process of putting that vision that we started with back down on paper as well as working on our new plans for growth this year. So be prepared to see some new and exciting things happening this year. I have never been one to dream small, so watch out!
If you haven't already heard the BIG news…we have just opened a second location of Chip's Wine and Beer Market. We are lovingly calling it Chip's Moyock, but you are free to call it Chip's 2 or Chip's North or whatever your heart desires. We are so proud of it and some long hours went in this last month in trying to get it open before fourth of July weekend. Some might say we are crazy opening a second store during the busiest season of the year for our OBX location, but sometimes when the time is right, the time is right. We hope you will get a chance to stop by and see our new location! We think it's quite nice!
Summer is finally here! Oh, how we have missed you so!
With one full year under our belts here and the opening of the new tasting lounge there are many, many happenings over here at Chip's! If you haven't stopped by lately we'd love to see your smiling faces. Plus, we have great and exciting news to announce. Apparently we are not that found of sleeping, so we have decided to open a 2nd location of Chip's Wine and Beer Market! As some of you know, Phil was laid off from his company back in January as an IT consultant. We had plans for him to quit his job (say in 5 years) to open a new location, but alas the universe has different plans for us! After a series of what you could call strange coincidences (I like to call them whispers from the universe since I don't believe in coincidences) a new location of Chip's will be opening in Moyock, NC! Plans are already under way and we are planning to be open by July 1st. So keep your fingers crossed for us and we hope you'll swing by to check out our new location once we are open!
As we sit back and look over the last year we can hardly believe that it has almost been a year since we purchased Chip’s. Coming into the store mid-June we were thrown into the mix of summer down here on the Outer Banks and that can be a fun and wild ride! Thank goodness Chip and Tammy were still around for a while and Janie and Mike (the most awesome employees in the world) stuck it out with us! We might of drowned in the beginning had it not been for them.
Coming up on this first year in business and getting through the slow winter months we are so appreciative of all your support. We couldn’t ask for better customers, employees and friends that have been there for us.
We often get asked how this whole thing came about. It’s not a grand story or anything but a great working of things lining up the right way. Laura had been a stay at home mom for many years after graduating from JMU and going through the “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up” phase. Someone should really tell you that Sociology degrees are not in big demand. Once our daughter was born, she finally found a wine company that she could work for from home. She ended up staying with that company for 6 years as she worked her way up training new people, leading a nationwide team and becoming the companies #2 salesperson. She found her passion was sharing her love for wine with others and teaching others about wine. When the company ended up closing last March, she was devastated. Her passion and what she loved was gone.
So they say, when one door closes another opens. Well that is exactly what happened. She happened to type in “Outer Banks wine shop for sale” online and up popped Chip’s! While she had lived near the Outer Banks her entire life, she had never heard or been into Chip’s. A quick trip to the store sealed the deal for us. That Friday afternoon in March we spent an hour in the store with our kids (who were being unusually patient) talking with Chip and falling in love with the store. It was the kind of wine shop we always imagined we would own. Nothing could of been more perfect….except, the banks weren’t really loaning money at the time. So, our plan went into action. Write a kickin’ business plan and take it to the bank. Luckily, we blew them away and in June we finally sealed the deal and became the new owners of Chip’s Wine and Beer Market. We still say that the store was being held just for us and it worked out perfectly. Chip and Tammy got to fufill their dream of sailing full time and we got to continue to share our passion and love for wine.
So thank you for being on this journey with us. We have had a fantastic year and it is only thanks to all of you. We hope we have lived up to your expectation and maybe, just maybe surpassed them. With the ending of this first year coming close we have finally put into place our first addition to Chip’s with the new tasting lounge, we hope you love our new touch to this wonderful shop that we love so much! We are really proud of it and we hope you like it too! We know without you, our dreams are not possible. Cheers to another great year!
