So what do you do when your brand new night club is open for just three days before the Governor’s Order shuts you down? You pivot and become a pop-up bodega, for your booze and necessities for your neighbors. And that’s how Tender Mercy turned in to Mercy Mart. Selling beer, wine, loaves of bread, eggs, potatoes, rice toilet paper, vinyl gloves, Tender Mercy merchandise and more. They’ve added cheese from St Anne’s, Focaccia by Grist and soon they’ll be adding more goodies from some of the 2nd Street Market.
But that wasn’t enough for Lauren Gay, their Sommelier. This Dayton native left town to explore the world in 2010, did a stint in the Peace Core, spent some time in LA and Vegas and then she and her boyfriend, Brandon Fugate (now the Beverage Manager at Tender Mercy) came back to Dayton to work with The Idea Collective and open Tender Mercy. She wants to use her wine knowledge, industry connections and help the Miami Valley use this Pandemic required slow down to explore new wines and become more educated about the industry. So yesterday they launched:
L A U R E N T I N E // episode one.
put your newfound free time (and penchant for day-drinking) to good use and learn a thing or two from our sommelier lauren. in this episode we discuss the most effective way of getting wine from bottle to mouth (hint: it’s not the weird contraption you got as wedding gift) and then discuss a favorite bottle from our list, on sale now at tendermercy.com for contact-free curbside pickup through MERCY MART.
In what Tender Mercy hopes to become a weekly feature Lauren will host a weekly video featuring tasting tips, explores wine varietals and pairing recommendations. You can actually see the video on their Instagram site. She’s hoping you’ll submit questions she can answer in future episodes and wants to help you enhance your wine experiences. Lauren is available to consult with you on wine purchases, finding out what you like, what you’d tried and make suggestions on things she thinks you should try. You can purchase from the Tender Mercy menu, do a special order of at least 6 bottles, and if you buy a case you’ll enjoy a 10% discount. Need help choosing or looking for something special? send an email to [email protected] to get matched up with the perfect wine.
Tender Mercy 
607 E. 3rd Street Lower Level
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 453-0007
Upcoming Tender Mercy Events:
April 17th 8-9:30pm Vine to Online: A Virtual Wine Tasting to benefit the YWCA
A Zoom video chat where Lauren will expertly walk us through three specially-curated wine tastings from woman-led wineries. Following each tasting, you will be transitioned to a private chat with just your friends to enjoy your vino and catch up with socially-distanced friends.
April 24th 7-9pm Rubi Girls : A Remote Retrospective
Order your special event food/drink packages NOW for pickup at MERCY MART Friday 4/24 from noon – 6pm! A ZOOM live stream event link will be emailed to you following your purchase.
