The Whisky Specialist

Situation

De Whisky Specialist is a long-standing whisky store in Alkmaar, built over decades by its original owner. What started as a joke between Remi, Yannick, and the owner about taking over the shop eventually became serious. When the owner decided to retire, Remi and Yannick took over the business to carry it forward.

The store had strong identity, deep knowledge, and loyal customers, but the online presence needed an upgrade. At the same time, the new owners renovated the physical store to match the renewed direction.

Challenge

• Preserve the character of a traditional specialist store
• Replace an outdated website
• Introduce e-commerce without turning it into a generic webshop
• Modernise operations for effective digital workflows

What we did

• Built a new website from scratch for De Whisky Specialist
• Migrated away from the existing website and systems
• Integrated Shopify for orders, payments, and product management
• Developed an experimental AI agent (as a Shopify app) to speed up inventory creation and management
• Kept the design and tone aligned with the store’s traditional identity

Result

• A modern, fast website that still feels like the original store
• A solid online sales channel alongside the physical shop
• Improved day-to-day operations through automation