Rosewood Services Inc. is ready to launch its latest retail venture this week with the opening of its winery outlet store in downtown Great Bend. The Rosewood Wine Cellar, located at 1901 Lakin, will open its doors to the public for the first time at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Rosewood opened its winery in mid-October last year, but the outlet store is an important component to making Rosewood’s products readily available to the public, said Rosewood Services executive director Tammy Hammond.
“We were able to begin selling our wines three months ago and that has gone well, but to truly achieve our vision of this venture, it’s important to bring the wine to our community in a way that provides people a unique experience,” she said. “With construction completed, our merchandise on the shelves, and our décor fine-tuned, we know that we have exceeded our expectations. We believe the public is in for a new shopping experience in downtown Great Bend.”
The Cellar offers so much more than just being a location to purchase Rosewood’s 13 varieties of wine, said Hammond. It provides free wine tasting. Under the Rosewood brand, it sells pure raw honey, natural handmade honey soaps that can be freshly cut on site, and horsehair pottery. All of the items are produced with the help of Rosewood Services client-employees. In the near future, the Cellar will sell homemade jellies and jams that are made with harvested fruit from the Rosewood Ranch.
“The most important aspect of this business is that it allows us to create real job opportunities for people with developmental disabilities,” said Hammond. “By the same token, our products must meet optimal quality to compete in the open market. It’s a delicate business model, but one we are confident that we have mastered over the years in preparation for this exciting moment.” 
Additionally, the Wine Cellar carries unique items such as large selections of wine jewelry and ornate picture frames, and even old-time candy. Shoppers can customize and personalize their gift baskets with vast selections from the store.
“An example of personalizing a gift is to give your valentine a special message in a bottle, or a love potion recipe,” said Hammond. “We have message examples to follow and our knowledgeable staff can help with the whole gift process.”
 Wine Cellar hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. The store is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays the Cellar is open from 1-6 p.m. Hammond said those hours may be adjusted when the downtown movie theatre opens in several months.