Kingstown Liquor Mart Founder Ralph Fede
working at Casali Brothers in Providence circa 1947.

Kingstown Liquor Mart
6800 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI

Square footage: 8,000

Years in operation: 71 years

By Sara Capozzi

Family-owned since 1952, the Fede family brings three generations of experience to their store, Kingstown Liquor Mart. The store is situated conveniently on Post Road in an 8,000-square-foot location, which, in 2010, underwent an extensive renovation and expansion from its former iteration.

Currently operated by the third generation of Nick Fede Jr., brother James Fede and cousin Frank Fede Jr., the team works together with their fathers, Nick and Frank, and a dedicated staff to bring a quality retail experience to North Kingstown and the surrounding communities, continuing the retail legacy.

Ralph Fede founded his first store in Providence with his brother in 1952, after serving in the military. “My grandfather saved his military pay from World War II, sent it all home to his mother and, at the end of the war, had enough saved up to open his first business,” recounted Nick Fede, Jr. “He had worked in the business for the Casali brothers, so he was already familiar with the industry.” The Casalis, another well-known family in the Rhode Island beer, wine and spirits retail industry, currently own and operate A&T Casali Liquors in Cranston.

Nick began managing Kingstown Liquor Mart after he “developed a passion for the product in college,” he said. “I was pursuing a biology degree and fell in love with craft beer, then bourbon, then wine. After seeing the beautiful new store my father and uncle built, I decided to make the career move following graduation to come operate it.”

Kingstown Liquor Mart has become a destination store known for its wide variety. Shoppers travel from all over the state for its selection of products, especially its bourbon, wine and craft beer, but, “We sell everything,” Fede said. “And we’re lucky we have the space where we can sell everything.” In wine, guests can shop for the premium bottles in the shop’s Liquid Assets room or go bargain hunting in Frank’s Bin Diving section at the back of the store, where they can find unique bottles at discount prices.

A team of about 25 full- and part-time employees help the Fede family daily to offer the store’s well-known attention to shoppers’ needs. “We sell service,” Nick said. “That’s our No. 1 and we build around that. We try to be priced fairly and competitively and we pride ourselves on cleanliness and customer experience.”

Kingstown Liquor Mart stocks items based on market trends and season, but for the most part the team orders inventory based on shopper feedback. “We listen to our customers,” Nick said. “We play to our audience but also monitor trends … North Kingstown has a very diverse population and the size of our store allows us to serve every customer equally and with the same amount of attention from our staff.”

In all, continuing on in the family’s tradition has been rewarding for Fede, who also serves as the Director of the Rhode Island Liquor Operators Collaborative. “I love what I do. I love how it’s essentially a fresh experience every day. We have a great independent liquor retail community in this state. I have the privilege of interacting with and knowing a lot of the other retailers, which is really nice. I love the legacy piece of our business; it’s really awesome.”