Wine Cellar Design: Wine Cellar Innovation's Bob Guillen Talks Shop

Helping homeowners and wine connoisseurs create beautiful and tasteful wine cellars is Bob Guillen's passion. As a designer and outside representative for Wine Cellar Innovations in Cincinnati, Ohio, Guillen knows construction and has an outstanding eye for style.

“I was a remodeling contractor, both commercial and residential, for over 34 years,” Guillen explained in a recent interview, “and I also have an education in interior design and am an allied member of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers). When I had my own business, I designed kitchens and basements and bathrooms and decking, etc., and I did the work myself....One of my first jobs was designing bars and restaurants.”

When Guillen decided that he needed to slow down, he sold his business and started looking for something new to do in his retirement years. He researched a lot of different companies and looked for something related to construction. “I was a finish carpenter, and I built furniture,” he said.  So, he was open to new ideas. “It didn't take long for people to call me with my background,” he admitted. Wine Cellar Innovations called him and hired him the day of his interview.

Now, as an employee, Guillen doesn't regret stepping down from ownership of a company and the control and prestige it had. “This is an amazing company,” he boasts. “I had researched them prior to the interview. I looked at their quality.” It was an easy choice.

Today, Guillen manages a sales/consulting territory in West Virginia, half of Pennsylvania, and  northern New York. His work often takes him to new construction sites as well as remodels in people's homes. He looks at each of them as if he were storing his own wine. “My family has made wine for a hundred years,” he said. “My brother and I still make wine.” So, he knows not only construction and design, but the needs of wine storage.