Pensacola natives Matt LaFon and Scott Zepp did not have business backgrounds when they flirted with entrepreneurship in 2005.
The two opened Caroline Wine & Spirits in St. Petersburg in 2005 with the original idea to make it a bar and liquor store, but zoning and parking issues limited them to just the liquor store. The two business partners decided their location in a Publix Shopping Center would make it impossible for them to compete with the grocery store in wine selection, so they turned their attention toward growing a beer line. The result was 60-store World of Beer. (Pensacola News Journal)