In E.G., it’s success by the glass

FINE WINE: Jessica Granatiero, owner of The Savory Grape in East Greenwich, left a career in public relations to create the wine shop in 2006. Above, she speaks with store manager Tulay Lawton. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
FINE WINE: Jessica Granatiero, owner of The Savory Grape in East Greenwich, left a career in public relations to create the wine shop in 2006. Above, she speaks with store manager Tulay Lawton. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

A Providence Business News 2015 Woman to Watch award winner, Jessica Granatiero wasn’t nominated by a supervisor or a business colleague but by a friend and longtime admirer of her uniquely dynamic success.

Granatiero owns and operates the Savory Grape Wine Shop in East Greenwich, plus The Savory Affair Event Planning, a corporate and social-event planning and design company, and she regularly organizes wine and food trips to Napa Valley, Calif. and Italy.

Deb Thomas, chief financial officer at Hasbro Inc. in Pawtucket, who nominated her for the PBN honor, started as Granatiero’s neighbor.

Thomas became a customer of the small wine shop Granatiero opened nine years ago, and also became a great admirer of how quickly she turned one business into a large enterprise.

- Advertisement -

“The secret of her success,” Thomas said, “is her passion for wine and sharing and educating the public about wine. She understands her product. She shares that knowledge.

Granateiro left a career in public relations to create the wine shop in 2006. Three years later, she moved from a 700-square-foot space to a 2,200-square-foot space. In 2012, she expanded the scope of the business by creating weeklong vineyard trips within the U.S. and Europe with another Rhode Island businesswoman, Kait Roberts of Easy Entertaining in Providence. Later that year, Granatiero recognized the opportunity to expand her services with her own eventplanning company.

After Granateiro’s wine shop became a success, she didn’t want to just sit back and coast. “I had to do something more,” she said. “I saw my clients’ needs. They asked for more organized trips. They needed more event planning, and I was able to utilize my past experience in public relations, the creative piece of coming up with out-of-the-box ideas for events.”

As her shop closes in on the 10-year mark, Granatiero is doing more business online and hopes to continue to expand.

“I’m flattered and very humbled by this award,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized for hard work.”•

No posts to display