CHAMPAIGN — Binny's Beverage Depot plans to open in mid-February in the former Borders bookstore at Town Center Boulevard and Prospect Avenue in Champaign.

The Skokie-based beer, wine and spirits retailer has 27 stores in the Chicagoland area, and the Champaign store will be its first downstate, owner Michael Binstein said.

The store, now under construction, will include a climate-controlled wine cellar and a walk-in cigar humidor, Binstein said.

The Champaign store will offer more than 1,800 beers, more than 6,000 wines and about 2,000 spirits, he said.

Plus, the outlet will have "a large classroom/events room in which we plan to offer a broad range of classes, seminars and tastings," Binstein said.

The store at 802 W. Town Center Blvd., C, will employ about 30 people, with most of the hiring being done after the first of the year, he said.

"We're placing a large bet on the Champaign store in making sure it's special and unique," Binstein said. "The bill for building this store will be $1 million, and we'll put $2 million in inventory within the store."

Binny's has been looking at the Champaign market for almost five years, he said.

The chain had wanted to locate in the Baytowne Square shopping center on the west side of Prospect Avenue, but one of the center's anchor tenants, PetSmart, vetoed that plan, Binstein said.

Binny's also considered locating in the former Linens 'n Things space in the Champaign Town Center shopping center, he added.

But then the Borders building became available.

"When this freestanding building at Prospect came up, it was love at first sight," Binstein said. "It had everything a retailer like us looks for: high visibility, lots of parking, easy in-and-out, a freestanding building strategically located so we can be close to people who live in town year-round and also the campus population."

Binstein said Binny's seeks to serve every "palate and pocketbook, whether you're looking for a bottle of wine under $5 to go with pizza, or a collectible Bordeaux that's over $5,000."

Hours for the Champaign store are expected to be 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with somewhat shorter hours on Sundays.

Owner left journalism to continue dad's work

Before going into the liquor business 16 years ago, the owner of Binny's Beverage Depot was an investigative reporter in Washington.

Michael Binstein co-wrote the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column with Jack Anderson between 1992 and 1995. The column appeared in The Washington Post and, through syndication, in The News-Gazette and other newspapers across the nation.

Binstein also wrote the book, "Trust Me: Charles Keating and The Missing Billions," about one of the chief figures in the savings-and-loan scandals of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Random House published it in 1992.

But Binstein left Washington for the liquor business when his father, Harold Binstein — founder of Binny's Beverage Depot — died in 1995.

"The company was founded by my father in 1948," Michael Binstein said. "He was a pioneer and innovator. He built and grew the company until 1995, when he passed away."

Binstein said he believes there were 12 stores in the Binny's chain when his father died, and the Champaign store — slated to open in mid-February — will be the 28th.

"We've just exceeded $250 million in sales," Binstein said. "When you can buy big, you can sell cheap."

Binstein said he sees parallels between reporting and retailing.

"Like a good reporter, a good retailer is a good listener," he said.

"You try to listen to what your customers want and what they're looking for."

Discussing the career switch, he said, "I've told people there are a lot of bad days, but no boring days, in the business. I had a learning curve that was steep. It was a very abrupt transition from covering Washington to working as a retailer. But on the other hand, I've inherited a first-class organization and a great team. ... They make you look good."

Binstein, 55, graduated from American University in Washington in 1980. As a freshman, he didn't know what he wanted to major in but enjoyed his work on the school newspaper. He branched out to suburban reporting and police reporting and, in 1982, got into an internship program for aspiring investigative reporters and joined Anderson's staff.

"The whole mantra was: Tell me what the reader's not supposed to know, the behind-the-scenes, backstage story," Binstein said. "It was a great ride and a great adventure."

Eventually, he shared bylines with Anderson on the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column. He also wrote for magazines and worked briefly as a consultant for ABC News.

Binstein said the most important thing he learned in journalism was from a newspaper editor who spoke to a class Binstein was in.

Another student asked the editor, "How do you handle deadline pressure?" The editor responded, "Pressure is working a rice paddy in Southeast Asia."

Binstein said he thinks of that line any time he feels pressure in the retail business.

"When you make a mistake in journalism, the next time (you publish), you run a correction or clarification and move on," he said. "When you make a mistake in business, you pay dearly for it."