The team behind Florida-based ABC Fine Wine & Spirits knows what it means to create a legacy in the beverage industry. The family-owned and operated business has been serving the central Florida area since opening in 1936 under Jack Holloway’s ownership. Today, ABC has 127 stores scattered from the Florida Panhandle to Miami, and the company recently acquired three stores in Colorado that operate under the Applejack Wine & Spirits banner, marking its first foray outside of Florida.
ABC has been passed down from generation to generation. The store is currently owned by Jack Holloway’s grandchildren Charles Bailes III and Jess Bailes, two Market Watch Leaders who have spearheaded the company’s expansion throughout Florida. Now, the fourth generation of family members, Sean Kelly, Dave Larue, Charlie Bailes, Chris Quarles, and Chad Holloway are spearheading the next chapter of ABC, and they’re focused on growing the company that has been nurtured by the generations before them.
“G4 is heavily focused on expansion outside of Florida,” says Sean Kelly, executive vice president of marketing and operations at ABC and the son-in-law of Charles Bailes III. "G3 has given us the space and motivation to do that.”
For their growth mindsets and dedication to the family business, Sean Kelly, Dave Larue, Charlie Bailes IV, Chris Quarles, and Chad Holloway have been named 2026 Market Watch Leaders.
Wanting The Business
ABC’s story began in 1936, when Jack Holloway opened Jack Holloway’s Friendly Neighborhood Bar in Orlando, Florida. Back then, the space operated as a bar and package store, serving Orlando residents who were just coming back to the beverage scene after the prohibition. Years later, Jack Holloway’s Friendly Neighborhood Bar would become ABC Fine Wine & Spirits and eventually get passed on to his son-in-law, Charles “Chuck” Bailes Jr., and then to Chuck’s sons, Charles and Jess. “My grandfather and my father wanted me to come into business, but they wanted me to want to come into the business,” Charles said when ABC won its most recent Market Watch Leaders award in 2024 for community service. “And so they told me to go interview for jobs, which I did, and get the best job offer that I could. And if I was interested, they would match it.”
This is a sentiment that Charles and Jess have carried over into their own leadership. The brothers encouraged each member of G4 to go work somewhere else before joining the family business so that when they came back, it was for the right reasons. “My mom is part of G3, and she moved to New Orleans to go to college at Loyola. So I didn’t grow up around the business like my cousin Charlie did,” says Dave Larue, who serves as executive vice president of sales and purchasing at ABC. “I went to college in New Orleans, and then decided to go work with the family business. But I was 21 years old, and so my uncles asked me to go work somewhere else first.”
Larue spent a year working for Southern Glazer’s in Chicago, which he says was a rewarding experience. After that year, he returned to work for ABC. But his entrance into the business wasn’t cushioned because of his status as a family member. “The first couple years, I was cleaning toilets, working registers, and stocking shelves,” he recalls. “I worked up from the store side, like Charlie did.”
Charlie Bailes IV, Larue’s cousin and Charles Bailes III’s son, is vice president of human resources and internal distribution at ABC, and like his cousin, he worked somewhere else before coming back to Florida to climb his way up through the company ranks. “I worked for a wholesaler running an off-premise route for a year in Chicago. Then moved back to Florida and started running one ABC store…then a group of stores…then much of the state,” says Charlie.
Sean Kelly had a slightly different experience, as he joined the business after marrying Charles Bailes III’s daughter. “Before I moved to Florida, I had a whole separate career. I used to be an investigative reporter for a TV station in Boston, and then I switched to a corporate communications marketing job in Washington, D.C. When my wife and I moved to Florida, I did some ad agency work and other marketing stuff on my own,” says Kelly. “Toward the end of 2017, my father-in-law asked me to put together a team to do a marketing audit of ABC. So I worked on that project for a couple months, and then he asked me to stick around and implement some of what our recommendations were. I really liked the people and the work. I liked everything about it, really.”
Modernization Plans
ABC has changed quite a bit since G4 came onto the scene. “We’ve consolidated old and tired stores that were originally 200-year-old corner stores to make way for newer, more modern locations in upscale markets,” says Chris Quarles, vice president of real estate for ABC. “We’re now expanding nationwide with inline ABC superstores that are over 20,000 square feet.”
The superstores are ABC’s most recent venture, and at press time the company was set to open its first superstore within the upcoming months. While the average ABC store has been between 10,000 and 12,000 square feet, the new stores will range between 22,000 and 30,000 square feet. Within the year, ABC’s Kelly says they’ll have built five superstores throughout Florida. “We’re providing for the guest who likes a great big store, and we’re also providing for those who want convenience in a more condensed form,” says Kelly. “For us, there’s space for all of it.” E-commerce is another area of focus for G4. While the team had been working on their e-commerce channel for years, the Covid-19 pandemic made it an essential part of the business. “When Covid happened, we had already set a foundation for massive growth so we were able to handle it, fortunately,” Kelly says. “And then I think we maintained a lot of it because we didn’t trip all over ourselves trying to scramble to get ready. We were ready.” ABC’s e-commerce sales have leveled out since the pandemic, but G4 remains focused on technologically advancing the company. “I think it had this huge rush when everyone was forced to stay inside or they were concerned about being around other people. It came down, but it continues to grow year over year. E-commerce is now a major part of the business,” Kelly adds. “It feels like we’ve always had it.”
ABC locations are also getting a technological refresh, with new digital aspects throughout the stores to join other cosmetic changes like taller shelves and brighter aisles. “We’re in year four of ripping out our homegrown IT systems and replacing them with modern technology that prepares for the future including AI,” says Charlie Bailes. “That’s been a huge investment and undertaking.”
“I think the technology has helped bring G4 beyond the previous generation and being able to utilize resources that are helping us target new markets with new guest experience,” says Quarles. The group is focused on continuing on with new innovations in order to improve the customer experience at ABC. These days, change is the name of the game. “The ABC stands for Always Be Celebrating in ads but a lot of people say it’s Always Be Changing and that’s true too,” says Kelly. “You have to change and innovate to keep growing.”
Changing Markets
In a struggling economy, ABC, like most retailers, is fighting to stay relevant to the customer and stay in growth mode. ABC’s revenue was estimated to be between $800–$900 million last year. The makeup of the chain’s revenue has shifted over the last 10–15 years. In 2025, spirits accounted for about 59% of the business. The chain stocks upwards of 1700 spirits SKUs in their stores. Tito’s vodka ($20 a 750-ml.) is one of the best-sellers in the category, although Larue says sales for the vodka titan have softened as the overall vodka category continues to suffer. Alongside Tito’s, Smirnoff ($11 a 750-ml.) and Ketel One ($20 a 750-ml.) are holding their own, and Svedka ($10 a 750-ml.) is “exploding” now that Sazerac is behind it. On the whisk(e)y side, Jameson ($25 a 750-ml.), Crown Royal ($20 a 750-ml.), and Jim Beam ($15 a 750-ml.) are all selling well, while Woodford Reserve ($35 a 750-ml.) is a standout. Finally, Tequila is having a moment at ABC, as it is nationwide. Lalo ($40 a 750-ml.) is a standout and Cuervo ($19 a 750-ml.) is “still a hoss” according to Larue, who does the buying for ABC.
Wine accounts for about 25% of sales at ABC stores, with 1509 wine SKUs in inventory. Top sellers include Veuve Clicquot ($59 a 750-ml.), Woodbridge ($6 a 750-ml.), Kendall Jackson ($12–$18 a 750-ml.), and the entire Josh Cellars line (about $11 a 750-ml.). On the higher end of the price scale, Larue notes, “we have a lot of really successful, higher-end SKUs from the Wagner family. Bonanza does really well, as does Caymus.” Caymus and Bonanza sell for $70 and $20 a 750-ml. at ABC stores, respectively.
Beer makes up just 8% of the business. The store’s best sellers are all recognizable names, such as Michelob Ultra ($27 a 24-pack of 12-ounce cans), Modelo ($30 a 24-pack of 12-ounce cans) and Guinness ($17 an 8-pack of 14.9-ounce cans). RTDs have overtaken a bit of the category’s share, with High Noon ($10 a 4-pack of 355-ml. cans) and Surfside ($9 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans) leading the charge. The remainder of the company’s sales are made up of cigars, miscellaneous items, and one particularly bright spot: THC beverages. Both Larue and Kelly note that despite ongoing legislative issues, THC beverages are garnering traction at their family of stores, accounting for about 4% of the company’s sales on their own.
“The rise of the category is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Kelly says. “All generations seem to be buying them now, with the largest being in the 35- to 50-year-old range, and a lot of women in particular.”
In an effort to help save the burgeoning category, Larue and Kelly have gotten involved in trying to strike down the ban on THC beverages in Florida. “Dave and I work very heavily on the federal legislation for THC beverages,” Kelly adds. “We’re some of the founding members of a national coalition of retailers working to save THC beverages. There’s a ban coming in November, so there’s enormous effort and strategy involved in trying to preserve the category.” At ABC, Buddi ($12 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans), and Pamos ($19 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans) sell well.
On The Horizon
Looking ahead, the members of G4 say there is more expansion on the horizon. Historically a Florida-based company, ABC completed its acquisition of Applejack Wine & Spirits in Colorado earlier this year, marking the company’s first venture outside of the Sunshine State. And according to G4, Colorado is just the first new locale ABC is hoping to enter in the coming years.
The fourth generation also says their focus now is nurturing the legacy G3 is leaving behind while also ushering in a new era that will lay a strong foundation for G5. “If it weren’t for G3 and their contributions, we have no legacy,” says Charlie Bailes. Quarles adds, “Something I have learned over the years is being methodical and having a plan of action for the direction of the company.”
Ultimately, there is a core value the generations share: the responsibility to do right by their employees, their community, and each other. “We are doing our best to represent our family and 90 years of ABC team members in a way that honors their dedication to our stores, each other and the communities we serve,” says Kelly. “We have a responsibility to be great stewards of the ABC brand and the industry as a whole.”
