ABOUT
Our Story
Stock Da Bar®️ Vodka was built on a simple idea: Celebrate Different. Support Local. Give Back.
My name is Daryl Reece, and alongside my wife and business partner, Debra Reece, we founded Stock Da Bar, LLC with a vision of creating a premium Michigan-made vodka that people could be proud to enjoy and proudly call their own.
As lifelong Michiganders, we wanted to create more than just another vodka—we wanted to build a brand that celebrates our state, supports our communities, and leaves a lasting legacy.
In 2019, we partnered with St. Julian Distilleryin Paw Paw, Michigan, to craft Stock Da Bar®️ Vodka, a premium vodka distilled from Michigan-grown red winter wheat. Every bottle reflects our commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and the hardworking people who make Michigan special.
On December 1, 2019, Stock Da Bar®️ Vodka officially launched. Today, our products are distributed by Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) and can be found in more than 300 locations throughout Michigan, including select Meijer stores, Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, Total Wine & More, independent retailers, restaurants, bars, hotels, and entertainment venues. As we continue to grow, our vision is to bring Stock Da Bar®️ Vodka to communities across the country.
Our journey actually began years before we ever bottled a spirit. Since 2010, our family has hosted annual Stock Da Bar fundraising events that brought people together to support local charities and meaningful causes. Those events inspired us to create a brand that would continue that same mission of giving back.
Today, Stock Da Bar®️ Vodka proudly supports organizations that strengthen our communities because we believe every bottle should make a difference. For us, success isn’t measured only by bottles sold—it’s measured by the lives we impact along the way.
Our mission is simple:
Create a world-class Michigan vodka. Support local businesses. Invest in our communities. Inspire others to dream bigger.
This is more than vodka.
This is Stock Da Bar®️.
Celebrate Different. Drink Different. It’s Da’ Clear Choice.
Since 2010, the Reece family has been hosting regional fundraisers called, “Stock Da Bar” where guests are encouraged to “Stock Da Bar” with their favorite spirits. Proceeds from the yearly fundraisers go to local and national organizations benefiting causes important to the Reece family. In 2018, Daryl Reece decided it was time to introduce the world to a Vodka that exemplifies Living, Loving and Supporting Local. In Fall 2019, the Reece family introduced “Stock Da Bar Premium Vodka” made with the finest ingredients that Michigan has to offer. Following in the footsteps of the “Stock Da Bar” fundraisers, “Stock Da Bar Premium Vodka” also donates a portion of its proceeds to local and national organizations.
Five Core Values
- Act with integrity & respect.
- We are all accountable.
- We are passionate about our brand.
- We have a commitment to our customers & community.
- We lead with our heart & with empathy.
SDB Way
- Black owned/Grand Rapids owned
- Premium small-batch vodka
- Distilled 6X
- Supports the youth of West Michigan
- Gluten free
- Distilled from red winter wheat
- All premium ingredients are grown and harvested from MICHIGAN!
Daryl Reece: Built on hard work, community support, and faith
Daryl Reece, who has lived in Grand Rapids for more than 22 years, is no stranger to hard work. As a matter of fact, it has been instrumental in the success he has seen with several ventures, including his vodka line, Stock Da Bar. Reece will be the first to share how his professional success was not something that was planned.
Daryl Reece
A class of 1991 graduate of Benton Harbor High School, Reece wanted to be a baseball player. He played his favorite sport throughout high school and with traveling teams for some time after graduation.
Reece knew that his next step was pursuing a college education, because that is what everyone told him he should do next, so he enrolled in junior college at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, but his time there was brief.
Reece realized that college was not for him, so he began working different jobs until he ended up at a factory where his mom had been working for more than 30 years.
“I don’t come from a business background — a money management background — I come from a hardworking background,” Reece says, adding that his parents instilled in him the value of hard work and saving money.
Content for seven years in this work, Reece was approached by his father-in-law, who owned a barber shop, The House of Style, about getting into the field. By 2001, Reece moved to Grand Rapids to be with his wife, Debra, where he gave up his factory job and began barber school, also attending Grand Rapids Community College simultaneously. In the end, he obtained both cosmetology and general education degrees. For the past 22 years, Reece and his wife have been operating the shop.
Throwing parties for a cause
They invited friends from his hometown of Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo to visit, celebrate his birthday with him, and “stock da bar.”
The parties grew with people coming from North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia to attend. Once it reached the point of the Reece’s home not being able to contain the parties, the event was moved to an outside venue, and 350 people attended.
Eventually, after a friend’s suggestion, Reece turned the event into a business. In 2015, Reece put together a committee and used the funds collected from the event to donate to a friend’s endowment fund. As it continued to grow, donations also went to the Boys and Girls clubs in Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids.
“I’ve been blessed to be around good people who treat me well, and I treat them well,” says Reece. “I might have the vision, but it takes a collective of these friends and family to just do everything. I love what we are doing.”
Although the parties have been discontinued, Reece continues to give back with new initiatives that continue supporting the communities that he has touched. In 2019, Pieces of of Reece’s was established, and in 2022, people gathered at Rosa Parks Circle for the inaugural Stock Da Bar Foundation festival. With people from all over the country, Reece was able to donate $3,000 to the Boy and Girls clubs. The next festival is scheduled for Aug. 17.
Daryl Reece and his wife, Debra, at an event.
Stock Da Bar Vodka can be found at several Michigan grocery stores, including Spartan Nash stores, Meijer, and Total Wine & More stores.
Stock Da Bar vodka
By late 2018, Reece had started creating YouTube videos to introduce his friends around the country to various Michigan alcohols, which caught the attention of Lansing-based Michigrain Distillery. The company reached out to Reece and asked him about pursuing his own vodka line; Stock Da Bar was born.
“I learned how to sell, learned how to brand, and learned alcohol law,” says Reece, who, for 10 months in 2019, would start his day at 4:30 a.m., so he could educate himself, reading audio business books, meditating, and staying consistent in his discipline and faith.
This was Reece’s routine all before going into work at the barber shop. On Dec. 1, 2019, Reece was licensed with his own vodka brand in Michigan and ready for distribution. There were times the Reeces would visit six-plus cities in a day to get started. In the end, with the combination of faith and support from friends old and new, Reece says Stock Da Bar is in more than 100 locations, including Meijer stores, three Bonefish and Grill restaurants in the state, and all four Total Wine and More stores in the state.
Reece and Stock Da Bar have also partnered up with the Meijer LPGA Classic for an upcoming third year, GR Gold at Van Andel, and Studio Park. With these partnerships, Reece, through his nonprofit efforts, wants to empower youth by introducing them to trade skills, saying College isn’t for everyone, and giving out scholarships.
Furthermore, Reece stresses that research and putting God first is what has helped him along his professional path, especially considering he initially did not know what his passion was: “I’m on this earth to help people — my passion is people.”
One turning point for Reece and the stress that he carried about what made him successful was something that his wife of more than 22 years said to him. He says that she told him that if he never sold another bottle of vodka, he would still be successful in her eyes. Since she said those words to him, Reece says he has not carried that same worry since, because he knew she was okay with where they stood in business and would continue to be his biggest supporter.
Reece is heading into a new year with his faith remaining just as strong, even when things may be a little rough — something that Reece adds is a given.
“Believe that what you want to do is possible,” he says. “Believe in what you do and make sacrifices.”
Article originally appeared:
RAPID GROWTH | SHANIKA P. CARTER | SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2024
