Marvina S. Robinson bid farewell to a two-decade-long career on Wall Street, embarking on a journey to become the one of a few Black American women to own a Champagne brand, according to Robb Report.
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As a lover of champagne, Robinson started researching the industry a decade ago while working in the finance industry. Her dedication would lead her to fly from the John F. Kennedy International Airport and her home in Brooklyn, NY, to France.
“I was trespassing on people’s property, just going wherever I fit in,” Robinson told Robb Report. “I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was building; I just knew that I needed to be in the Champagne region in order to understand champagne. You just have to immerse yourself in the culture, and that’s how you figure it out.”
In 2020, Robinson launched her own champagne company, B. Stuyvesant Champagne, after venturing away from her initial idea to open a champagne bar in Brooklyn. Her entrepreneurial spirit was already evident through her past endeavors, including a cycling studio and a coffee shop that are no longer in operation.
Now, Robinson is growing her business portfolio with B. Stuyvesant Champagne, a company that evokes memories of her beginnings. Bedford-Stuyvesant, or Bed-Stu, is the Brooklyn neighborhood where she grew up and still lives.
“The Stuyvesant name means a lot to me because I grew up on Stuyvesant Avenue,” she reflected, according to the outlet. “My school bus picked me up on Decatur and Stuyvesant. When I went to high school, it was at Boys & Girls High School at Fulton and Stuyvesant. My first full-time job, at Morgan Stanley, I remember walking up Stuyvesant Avenue in heels. Never again—but that’s how it all started. That’s why I wanted to make sure I named the brand Stuyvesant, because it’s a reflection of who I am and where I’m from.”
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As for the brand’s success, 20,000 bottles are manufactured yearly, and prices range from $59 to $99. Featured products include Brut Rosé, Réserve, and Demi-Sec, all sourced and produced in Épernay, France.
Robinson is very strategic with her product offerings and limits quantities for multi-packs and special bottling. For example, she only produced 800 bottles of her Premier Cru and Rosé Prestige.
“What I try is to do things short and sweet so they don’t linger all year,” she explained, per Robb Report. “What I don’t want is a whole bunch of inventory just sitting in my warehouse. I want to move it. Remember, because I own the brand 100 percent, I have to pay for all of this, so I’m growing slowly to get ready to scale.”
As she aims to expand her company, Robinson envisions landing deals in airline lounges and hotel lobbies. Already, the company ships direct to consumers and is in the process of securing restaurant and wine-shop placements.
“When I first launched, I wanted to be everywhere. Now I know I don’t need to be everywhere,” she told Robb Report.