Merchant Milestone
by Renee Leininger

Bremer Wine & Liquor World
A Four Generation Legacy!

The Bremer business legacy was started by C.H. (Charles Henry) Bremer.  He operated his first business in 1876.  It began as a produce market on Seneca Street in downtown Utica.  Over the years it expanded into a large grocery store known as C.H. Bremer and Co. Inc.  The store had a great reputation for its quality and customer sevice (both locally and nationally) and had customers such as the Ringling Brothers Circus and The Old Masonic Home.  It also was the first grocery store to offer home delivery of fresh produce, beef and other perishables...year round!

C.H. Bremer died in 1917 and the business was taken over by his son, Merritt.  Merritt continued to operate the store through the Depression years; however, after the Dpression ended, he retained only the wine and liquor portion of the business.

Merritt died suddenly in 1959.  His son Bud (Merritt Jr.) took over the business temporarily with the intent of working at it for a few weeks.  He was at the time a chemist with plans to head South with his then employer, United Merchants and Manufacturers.  Instead, he continued its operation and later merged with Casey and Keefe Liquor Store (owned and operated by Art Bullock).  Thus, the merger created Bremer & Bullock Liquor Store on Oneida Square.

In 1999, Art retired.  Seeking more space, parking and consumer traffic, Bud purchased the Heritage Wine & Liquor Store and moved his operation to Commercial Drive.

Business was growing rapidly...so rapid that Bud's son, Tim (Merritt lll) gave up his job as a pharmaceutical rep to help manage the business and become the fourth generation in the Bremer legacy. 

Tim has an extensive background in the wine industry that includes working in Napa, for a French barrel-making company and other wineries.  It doesn't end there.

The growth of the business required another move.  The former Dresher Furniture location was purchased in 2003 to provide consumers with more parking, and extensive selection of wines and wine-tasting events.

When Bud decided he wanted to ease into retirement, his youngest son Eric was eager to take over his spot.  He was in industrial sales and management in New England, but was anxious to move back to this area to raise his family.  Now with Tim and Eric at the helm...the business is guaranteed to last until the next generation.

Courtesy of Bud Bremer
Owner-3rd generation
____________________________________________________