Who’s Who on Our “Grand Crew”

Schaefer’s has been a Chicagoland tradition since 1936 because of its incredible selection, competitive prices, unmatched expertise, and superlative customer service (for a short history of Schaefer’s, click here).

Schaefer’s is not just a place, not just goods and services. It’s the people who make it unique. No other store is as old as we are, and no other store has such an experienced staff. Most of the people who work at Schaefer’s have been here for more than a decade, many for 20 or more years. In a small retail business, that kind of longevity and loyalty is almost unheard of. Is it the wine? Perhaps, but it’s also the kind of people they are, people who derive a great deal of satisfaction from providing the unequaled service Schaefer’s offers its customers, and that’s something that’s hard to find in any business.

Bill Graham, Owner – Since 2009

The tradition of family ownership remains with Schaefer’s. Bill Graham, the owner since 2009, is a North Shore native, a New Trier grad, and a second-generation Schaefer’s customer.

Bill finished Northwestern’s Kellogg School in the mid-1990s and built a business in Waukegan with his brother Mike. They sold their business in 2005. That year Bill and wife Libby welcomed their first daughter. Two boys have joined the family since then.

Bill is an avid outdoorsman and private pilot. He is active on several area non-profit boards. As a Cubs season ticket holder, he shares our Schaefer team compulsion.

Bill was thrilled when the opportunity to buy a local landmark presented itself. His last business was based on exceeding customers’ expectations in every respect. The mission now is to provide friends, neighbors and community an energized Schaefer’s Fine Wines, Foods & Spirits that would make four generations of the Schaefer family proud.

Anje Schaefer Cluxton, Executive Vice President – Since 1999

Anje is a member of the third generation of Schaefer’s to be involved in running the family business. She graduated from Regis University, in Denver, in 1997, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration, and, in 1998, she received her master’s degree in business administration. She joined her father, George, and her aunt Gene at Schaefer’s in 1999.

After so many years spent crunching numbers, she spent a few months in the fall of 1999 crunching Gewurztraminer grapes and learning the ins and outs of winemaking on an internship at Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley Vineyards.

Anje enjoys skiing and traveling, but likes being in Chicago during the warm-weather months so she can take in as many Cubs games as possible.

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The Schaefer’s Line-Up

 

Mick Ter Haar, Beverage Director – Since 2009

Mick is our new Beverage Director. He has responsibility for a full range of beverages and will add a spirit expertise from his years of experience. Mick served as the Beverage Director at Blanchard’s Red Lion in Boulder in the late 80′s. In the mid-90′s, he moved to Vail where he was surrounded by some of the most renowned chefs ever at such restaurants as Sweet Basil and Larkspur. It was also at this time that he took his passion to the next level and earned his Sommelier Certificate. In early 2002, he moved to Chicago to work at Smith and Wollensky Steak House. In late 2007 Mick and his wife opened the doors to their own wine shop – Cork and Canvas, in Highland Park. The economy gods were not in their favor, and they have now closed their doors. Mick takes wine seriously, but not too seriously. After all – “it’s just grape juice, really yummy grape juice!” His passion is to travel the world, eat, drink, meet people and enjoy their stories.

 

Dan Madden, General Manager – Since 1979

Christened Daniel Patrick, I was the seventh and last child born to James and Virginia Madden in July 1959. Born at Evanston Hospital, and raised in Wilmette, I attended St. Joseph Catholic School and New Trier West High School, in Northfield (Class of 1977).

I had always planned to be a firefighter, but after working at a gas station and, briefly, as a security guard at Northbrook Court mall, I took what I thought would be another short-time job, this time in the delivery department at Schaefer’s. That was quite some time ago.

Given all the time I had spent cruising with my buddies, when I was 16 and 17, I knew the streets of the North Shore like the back of my hand. So the delivery department job at Schaefer’s seemed tailor-made. Before long, I was promoted to delivery department manger, although that may have been more a matter of expedience than qualification for the job. After several moving violations and minor traffic accidents, George Schaefer figured it was the quickest way to get me off the streets. Nevertheless, I managed the delivery department for several years until I became Schaefer’s events and party planner, a job I’ve been able to hold onto because it’s one that I truly enjoy. It costs Schaefer’s a lot less money and aggravation than having me at the wheel of a delivery truck.

I’m happily married to Maureen, my high school sweetheart (the only woman who would go out with me more than once), and we have two great children: Virginia, who graduated in 2005 from Northern Illinois University with a degree in elementary education, and Sean. In my free time I love to fish, get together for some great laughs with good friends, and, most of all, spend quality time with my family.

 

Mary Liliedahl, Food Director – Since 1993

No one who visits our food department comes away without meeting Mary, who manages the department and is one of the store managers. She likes the fast pace and the camaraderie at Schaefer’s. Customers look to Mary for her ideas and her quick, no-nonsense solutions to their entertaining challenges. Need appetizers for 60 people in an hour? A picnic basket to impress a first date? A hostess gift for an impossible-to-please potential in-law? Let Mary help. She also has a talent for enabling her customers to entertain with hassle-free confidence, providing do-it-yourself advice on everything from a wine-and-cheese tasting to helping decipher oddball recipes with hard-to-find ingredients. Mary shares a passion for food that is rivaled by very few people. It may have to do with growing up in a large family, but Mary enjoys cooking on her days off for her family, and spends spare time researching ingredients for special meals. But we all have passions outside our first love, and for Mary it’s fishing. Mary is also our authority on all things Iberian: foods, wines, culture and bullfighters.

 

Sandra Petersen, Food Manager – Since 1984

I celebrated my 25th year anniversary here at Schaefer’s in 2009, having signed on in June 1984 as Sterling Pratt’s assistant in the wine department. But I missed working around food so much that I convinced the Schaefers to open a food section, and that’s where I’ve been ever since, selling cheese, pate and baskets full of gourmet goodies. Wine is still my favorite beverage, so you can often find me on the wine floor. I love combining the flavors of foods and wines.

In a way, my career path was determined by my family and friends, who all enjoy good food and wine. And, having grown up in Wilmette, I was introduced early in my life to Schaefer’s when my parents and grandparents shopped here.

I studied art and art history at Northern Illinois University and, after college, I worked in the restaurant business, a connection that eventually led me to my job here.

My daughter, Phoebe, is at Princeton studying writing, with aspirations of becoming a playwright. She’s also a classically trained vocalist.

I love to cook and still enjoy learning about food and wine. And, having grown up in a musical family, I also like listening to all types of music, especially jazz and classical.

 

Joe Alter, Wine Manager  – Since 2011

Joe grew up around his granparents’ wine shop in Rock Island, Illinois, where as a young child he came to appreciate the difference between a grocery store candy bar and a melt-in-your-mouth segment of Toblerone white chocolate. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in Engish Literature in 1993, he worked at his grandparents’ shop doing wine tastings, stuffing envelopes with wine newsletters (yes, this was before email blasts!) and learning as much as he possibly could about the wine business.

After a year, he set off for Chicago to seek his fortune in the big city. He got to taste and sell a ton of incredible French, Italian and Spanish wines when the dollar was strong in the salad days of the mid-90′s. Bordeaux, Barolo, Vintage Port, Champagne. You name it. The best stuff was relatively cheap and people had more money than sense. Good times. It was like a post-graduate education in the greatest wines of the world. Back to graduate school for a few years. And then back to the retail wine trenches on the North Shore where he’s been since, putting people together with delicious wine. He resides in Lincoln Square with his beautiful wife, adorable son and pug named Gracie who snores. He loves music, movies, vintage guitars, and dreams of owning a lugged steel bicycle frame.

 

Brian Flannery, Key Account Manager – Since 1992

 

Having grown up in the area, he was a regular customer for years before deciding to help out over the Christmas season in 1992. “You’d think the last place a person would want to be during the holidays is in a retail situation, but Schaefer’s is so unique, and the customers are so great, and so loyal, it’s been a very rewarding experience for me all these years,” he said recently. “The fun thing about working at Schaefer’s is that, eventually, you bump into everybody, especially during the holidays. Some are old friends from long ago, and others are the people you work with throughout the year, who have become old friends.”

Among the friends he is likely to see are classmates from grade school in Winnetka, long ago. “We spent all our formative years together, from kindergarten through 8th grade, the same group, and in those days, it was an experience that stayed with you. The nuns scared the hell out of me, and so I quickly learned to keep my mouth shut and my hands out of my pockets.”

Brian attended New Trier High School East and immediately got involved in the performing arts in an attempt to overcome his shy nature. “I liked acting because you could say loud and effective things and knew you wouldn’t be interrupted. My family always came to see me and were no doubt amazed and were usually moved to speechlessness.”

In college Brian worked behind the scenes, and seemed to find his niche aiming the spotlights instead of standing in front of them. He attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and would probably still be there today if tuition hadn’t shot up which compelled him to graduate. He majored in English literature, film and theater, and discovered Steinbeck, Keaton and Shakespeare.

These early interests have stayed with him all these years, and seem to tie in perfectly with his current interest in wine. “Whether you’re talking about a film you’ve just seen or a wine you’ve just tasted, the basic way you analyze it is as much how it affects you personally as it is what the creator was trying to convey. Then every time you go back you see something more.”

“The study of wine is never dull, because the wine scene is constantly changing. New vintages come along, you hear about somebody’s amazing experience with a certain wine, and you are constantly discovering new gems. I learn as much from listening and talking to customers and co-workers as I do from reading the wine books and writing for TriWine.”

Aside from writing for our Tri-Wine Club, Brian also writes our employee newsletter here at the store. “I’m a really good speller, and I’m as proud of that as anything. That’s another thing the nuns gave me, and I am grateful for that.”

Favorite wines? “Too hard to narrow it down, but I am a Bonny Doon groupie, and fascinated by Rhône grapes from all over.”

 

Eli Robinson, Delivery Supervisor – Since 1993

 

Eli sees more parties and weddings in a week than most of us see in a lifetime. He’s the head of our delivery department, and he’s the one who makes sure all the libations for your event get there on time and in one piece. (Of course he’s got a good team of drivers to help him.)

Eli might not be the employee who’s been here the longest, but he’s probably the employee who started here the youngest. He started working in our warehouse (at age 15) during the Christmas season in 1993, while also attending Evanston Township High School.

He worked here part-time until he graduated in 1996, when he became our full time stock supervisor. A year later he moved over to the job as assistant manager of delivery, and took over managing that department in 1999.

Eli lives in Evanston and enjoys playing basketball and football with friends. He also loves to tinker with car audio systems and find new accessories for his own car. We think he also writes poetry, but he won’t show anybody.

 

Paul Downs, Food – Since 2007

My passion for food started with my first job working in the rectory at Queen of All Saints in Chicago. There I helped the cook prepare dinner for the priests and guests. It was then that I realized that sitting down and sharing a meal with someone was special – my journey through food had begun. My first exposure to Schaefer’s was at Loyola Academy when one of my friends started working in the stock department – little did I know that I would be here a decade later.

While attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, I worked at an Italian restaurant and learned what the restaurant business was like – I was hooked. While still in Milwaukee, I took a job at Starbucks where my passion for pairing food and beverage began. Upon earning my Coffee Master certification, I shifted my interest toward a greater challenge – wine. In order to work with food and wine, I left Starbucks to manage the kitchens at Sauce night club and Witt’s Chicago; and eventually worked as Head Chef at 404 Wine Bar. In 2008, I auditioned for Hell’s Kitchen and made it to the final 250 contestants in the Midwest. Over the past ten years I’ve developed an extensive knowledge of coffee, tea, beer, spirits, food and cheese.

 

Byron Wilson, Baron of the Beer Aisle – Since 1990

Byron Wilson is one of Schaefer’s friendliest faces. Having celebrated his 90th birthday in 2009, Byron is a vital part of all our Saturday events. Byron graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1938, and was drafted into the army in 1941. He quickly established his leadership ability and spent 27 months at Camp Wolters (Texas) as a drill instructor. Byron landed on Utah Beach in 1944 and spent 16 months in Europe.

An avid jazz buff, Byron’s free time, when he isn’t bartending for private parties all over the North Shore, is spent on jazz cruises. His latest was on the QE2! It’s a real pleasure knowing Byron. Stop on in and introduce yourself.