Ray’s Wine & Spirits, a popular Wauwatosa establishment in business for more than 63 years, will open a new location in Mequon this year as part of its first-ever expansion.
Ray’s is taking over a two-story, 13,500-square-foot barn-style building at 7555 W. Mequon Road, across from Outpost Natural Foods, that most recently housed The Finial hardware and plumbing business, which closed in June 2022 after more than 30 years in business at the location.
Ray’s touted the new location in a social media post on New Year’s Day.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Ray’s also posted a video to social media on Sunday announcing that the Wauwatosa store would be a “big brother or sister” to the new Mequon store. “We’ve always been looking for a second location,” Orey Laev, Ray’s president since 2015, said in the video.
Like the Wauwatosa store, Ray’s in Mequon will sell wine, spirits and beer with expert staff on site full time and have a classroom that will accommodate about 32 guests for “entertainment, knowledge and social interaction,” according to materials submitted to the Mequon Planning Commission. Classes will be held twice per week.
The Mequon location will differ from the Wauwatosa site in that it will sell fine cheeses and meats along with other packaged food for sale, according to commission materials.
Ray’s plans to make improvements to the property, including new exterior wood and upgrades to the parking lot and landscaping.
Ray’s opened its Wauwatosa location at 8930 W. North Ave. in 1961. The store carries more than 8,000 wines, 2,000 spirits and 1,000 types of beer, according to its website. The current location also houses Ray’s Growler Gallery and Wine Bar on the building’s upper level.
