Matt Mandel, Manager, and Kirsta Ifkovic, Owner, Frank’s Package Store.

Frank’s Package Store
15 Boston Street
Guilford, CT

Square footage: 2,000

Years in operation: 86 years

By Sara Capozzi

For more than 85 years, Frank’s Package Store has served the Guilford community. Passed down through three generations of the Ifkovic family, current Owner Kirsta Ifkovic has memories throughout her life at the historic shop situated on picturesque Boston Street, which her grandfather Frank Ifkovic Sr. opened in 1939. “When I was little, my grandfather used to pick me up from kitty college down the street and I would come here after nursery school and hang out,” Ifkovic remembered. “I’ve been here a long time.”

Ifkovic’s father, Frank Ifkovic Jr., took over the business in the 1970s, and she and her siblings worked there growing up. After working in supply chain management for about 25 years, Ifkovic purchased the shop from her father when he decided to retire in 2019.

“I jumped at [the opportunity]. I came back to work and cleaned up the store a little bit and renovated it,” she said. “I was so happy to come back and see all the old customers, the customers I used to know when I was little. You feel like you’re part of the community here in Guilford. People walking their dogs come in because they know they get dog biscuits here and they stay and chitchat … It’s a beautiful location here, so we’re very blessed.”

Frank’s Package Store is a boutique shop that packs a lot of variety into its 2,000 square feet. A diverse selection of wines from around the world is available from both big-name producers and smaller independently owned wineries. Customers looking for high-end wines, bottles for special occasions, and unique and allocated spirits will find plenty to choose from, along with local craft beer, ready-to-drink cocktails, ciders and seltzers, and high-end nonalcoholic wine, beer and spirits. “We want something that’s a little bit different than what might be seen at every other store,” Ifkovic said. “We want to try to stand out and also affordability is something that’s on everybody’s mind these days.”

As summer approaches, customers begin to purchase more rosés, especially from provincial French producers, Vinho Verdes, New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and White Bordeauxs. In general, customers tend to gravitate toward French wines more than Italian, but Chiantis and Montepulcianos remain ever popular.

Ifkovic and her team of six employees work to differentiate the store from competitors by cultivating a unique wine and spirits selection. “We’ve been working with smaller distributors that are working with family-owned wineries,” she said. “It’s nice to find a standout wine that’s more of a niche wine. We do a lot of handselling here and our customers trust our judgment in trying to choose a wine for them.

“If someone is looking for something special, I think they would think to come to Frank’s Package Store, especially if they’re local, to see if we have that item that they have in mind. The customers that I talk to, they love coming in here because it’s local, they love everyone that works here and they say everybody that works here is very friendly, very customer service-focused.”

Continuing her family’s legacy has been rewarding for Ifkovic. “I always thought as a kid that I would somehow end up here and run the family business and it was fortunate for me that’s how it worked out,” she said.