Lisa Gosselin, 21-year NHLC veteran, steps into new role as the state’s wine buyer
The New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC) is announcing Lisa Gosselin, a 21-year NHLC employee with a track record of increasing sales in NH Liquor & Wine Outlets in Manchester, Londonderry and Bedford, has been named Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist. Working her way up from cashier, to clerk, and then to store manager, Gosselin has been instrumental in successfully opening new NH Liquor & Wine Outlet locations, managing sales and leading teams during her career. As the Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist, Gosselin will oversee all aspects of wine sales, merchandising and promotions for the state’s 79 NH Liquor & Wine Outlets.
Gosselin takes over as Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist from Nicole Brassard Jordan, who worked in that capacity for the past 13 years, before being named NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising and Warehousing last month. Gosselin officially began her tenure as Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist on Friday, January 22.
“The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is honored to be able to promote Lisa Gosselin to the position of Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist,” said Chairman Joseph Mollica. “Lisa’s distinguished tenure managing some of our key stores, implementing innovative sales and merchandising strategies, and particularly her work creating broad and varied in-store wine selections, make her extremely qualified to take on this important role. With exceptional industry knowledge, a strong handle on wine trends, and a deep knowledge and passion for wine, I know Lisa is an excellent fit for this position.”
Gosselin, who is currently studying to become a Certified Specialist of Wine with the Society of Wine Educators, joined the NHLC team as a cashier in 1995 at the Bedford NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (Store #55), where she began to develop her expertise in wine. Over the years Gosselin was promoted to clerk, then manager of locations in Manchester, the Outlet at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and most recently Bedford. She played a significant role in the opening of several locations, including the Bedford outlet on Leavy Drive which opened in November 2013. While in Bedford, Gosselin and her team steadily increased sales, created a broad wine selection and fostered a loyal customer base. From December 2014 to December 2015, the Bedford NH Liquor & Wine Outlet increased sales by $1.8 million compared to the same period the previous year.
“Throughout my career working in several NH Liquor & Wine Outlets I have always strived to create the very best customer experience and I will continue to do so as Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist,” Gosselin said. “As I step into this exciting new role, I am committed to increasing NHLC wine sales in an effort to generate record revenue for the New Hampshire General Fund. I look forward to building on NHLC’s innovative and progressive sales and marketing strategies to better serve NHLC’s 11 million customers at our 79 NH Liquor & Wine Outlets statewide.”
Along with serving as NHLC’s wine buyer, as the Wine Marketing and Sales Specialist, Gosselin will take over leadership of New Hampshire Wine Week, a customer-focused, week-long celebration of wine drawing dozens of the world’s leading winemakers to New Hampshire each January to participate in intimate wine dinners, bottle-signings and tasting events all over the state. The week culminates with the Winter Wine Spectacular, the largest wine tasting event north of Boston drawing thousands of guests and raising more than $1.5 million for charity in total. Gosselin will also lead NHLC’s Fine Wine Tasting Series, which launched in May 2015 with an Italian Wine Tasting event drawing 150 guests.
With more than 7,000 wines to choose from at the 79 NH Liquor & Wine Outlets, and with $284 million in wine sales alone in Fiscal Year 2015, NHLC has made an impression in the wine world. In fact, NHLC received an A+ rating for consumer access to wine by the The American Wine Consumer Coalition and was named “The Best State in America for wine drinkers” by the Washington Post.
