Category Archives: Retail Wine Shop Blog

Retail Beverage Shop Analysis/Comparison

Posted on by
3

For my Retail Beverage Shop visit, I went to Astor Wine and Spirits and Union Square wine.  Both retail stores had similarities as well as differences. Union Square wine was my first wine store visit, I was extremely excited because now that I study wine and have the knowledge of what to look for it makes it much more interesting. USW was a medium size store where they had a glass door entrance with their logo in red. When I entered there was a lady at the information desk who greeted me and asked how can she help. I told her the purpose for my visit and I proceeded asking how is the layout of the store, is it by region or by grape variety.  I was then advised to have a look around and the wines will be categorized by regions. The wine bottles were displayed by categories. They were set up with the high price wines at the top and the inexpensive wines at the bottom. They also had a Japanese wine section called Fukushima. USW carries canned, bottled and boxed package wine. They did not have recommended wines nor “shelf talker” however they had a featured section. It was very slow because there was only one other customer beside myself. Overall, I found USW to be simple and did not have a lot to offer such as tasting menus. Since I did not like my experience at USW a fellow HMGT student recommended me to Astor Wines and Spirits. When I walked in Astor Wines and Spirits, it felt like a supermarket because there were many signs, shopping carts, cashiers, and refrigerated areas. They sell other products such as wine openers, ice trays and wine bags for storage and gifting. I spoke to a friendly employee and asked her about their delivery services. I was curious about the procedures for ordering online because they had a delivery section. There is no need for a store visit when you can shop online. That’s if you study wine of course. The tasting area caught my attention because they had a calendar to inform their customers with upcoming tasting events. With wine tasting it allows guests to sample and choose their favorites, rather than making a blind purchase not knowing what to expect. I really enjoyed my experience at Astor Wines and Spirits because of the selection of wines from regions such as France, Italy and Spain.

Union Square Wines’ display of canned wines. The wine in the picture is a California Pinot Noir Rose.

Bandit wines in carton bottles. The blue boxes are Merlot and the yellow is Pinot Grigio from California. These wines would be paired well with salmon.

This is a shelf talker at Astor Wines and Spirits.

Rebel Red wine from Portugal made out of Baga grapes. 2016 Vintage

Cava Sparkling wine from Spain

Wine Retail Shop Analysis

Posted on by
4

Astor Wines & Spirits

I have visited Astor Wines & Spirits which is located in neighborhood of a lots of Italian restaurants. This shop is so organized and set up in the way made easier for customer to find their desire wine.
Each of every section had a sign on top, explaining what kind of region of wine, and they were separated by types of wine (red, white, sparkling and etc…). Not only that, they have Champagne section, Half bottle, Dessert wine, and a clearance section, which wines are on the sale.

Wine section of for sale

And when you take a closer look in to each sections of wine, there is a little note call “staff pick” which are written by staff of the shop, recommending their favorite wine for customers. Which I felt like a guest interaction for those who are not sure what to buy.

Recommendation by staff, explains in detail why customer should choose this wine

Walking around the shop, it was little difficult to find and have any staff to ask question because they were preparing for an event coming up (they plan out a lot of events of all different categories of wine). But one of the most experienced staff was nice enough to walk to me, and spend more than 20 minute for me to answer my question.

I wanted to know about their marketing strategies. In order to keep large wine shop, there must be efficient way to make customers comeback. He have explained to me, that the most important strategy is to build up a good relationship with producers and vendors. Because of that strong relationship, they could always have high quality of wines, and it rarely happens for them to return a bottles of wine.
Next step is relationship with guest. Like I have mentioned before, they a lot of events by different categories of wine. For example, one day, there will be more southern French wines display and will be on sale. It attracts customer to focus in certain wine, and become a fan of it.
They also send out email to their every customers about new wines, on sale wines, and the wines they customers requested for or a repeatedly bought wine.

Lastly, he wanted people to know, how so many great quality of wines are being underestimated because of popularity of producer. Small producers of wines are mostly made by hand with so much of effort, but because of small amounts of wines are produced, they don’t get so popular.

Shelf talker

Sparkling wine from California

La Banda del Argilico, Micro Wines 2017 Rueda, Spain

Hungary wines which are not common

Retail Wine Shop Analysis

Posted on by
4

Grand Wine & Liquor

This is a photo of the outside store view of Grand Wine and Liquor.

This is a photo of the outside store view of Grand Wine and Liquor.

I didn’t really like the outside view of the shop because it doesn’t look like a wine shop. In my honest opinion, It looked like a boring looking grocery store, until you look up to the writing and see the “Grand Wine and Liquor” and the little wine bottles drawing.

But as I entered the store, I can see that the shop was huge, has a lot of space and friendly employees. All the employees greeted me and smiled, which I loved because not a lot of shops actually have employees that nice nowadays. I first took a look around the shop, then I was approached by an employee asking me if I needed any help, I told him I wanted to speak to the owner or someone in charge, he said sure and walked to the back room. A few seconds later a man in a suit stepped out and greeted me and I told him about my analysis and if I could ask him a few questions, he said yes of course. And I went on by asking him, how did this shop happen/open? He said his great grandfather, Jake Battipaglia, opened this shop 75 years ago, and it is still up and running. His great grandfather was an immigrant from Greece, who came to America for a better job and life for him and his family. I also asked him how long did he study wine and why did he, he said he’s been studying wine for all of his life because he grew up with it being the family business and that he has a wine doctorate. Another question I had for him was “if a wine was not selling as you wanted it too, what would you do?”. He said that they would discontinue the wine or mark it down or put it on sale to get all the remaining wines out of the store and then he would never order that wine again.

After he answered my questions, I asked him to just show me around the shop and to show me the wines I had to take pictures of. The shop’s wines were organized by country and within each country, the red and white wines were separated.

 

This picture is what you see once you enter the shop. Also shows you some of the countries and their wines.

This is one of the shop’s sections for Greece and its wines.

Wine # 1 – Shelf Talker

These wines with rectangle paper, that has the red and blue writing on it are "Shelf Takers.

These wines with rectangle paper, that have the red and blue writing on it are “Shelf Takers”. They are because customers can easily see what’s inside of the wine and how the wine tastes.

Wine # 2 – Red Wine from Spain

This wine is called Goru Verde and it is a red wine from Spain

This wine is called Goru Verde and it is a red wine from Spain.

Wine # 3 – Sparkling Wine not from France

This is a sparkling wine not from France but from Italy called Cannonau di Sardegna.

Wine # 4 – Red wine from a region I did not know made wine. 

This is a red wine called 19 Crimes from Australia, which I did not know made wine.

“Thirst Wine Merchants”-Retail Wine Assignment

Posted on by
4

“Unique” and “Intimate” are some of the words that come to mind when thinking of “Thirst Wine Merchants”, which is located in downtown Brooklyn. When deciding where I wanted to emphasize my wine research, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to visit a place that stands out not by quantity of selections but by quality of the wines provided. This is when
“Thirst Wine Merchants” became my number one choice.


One of the Shelfs of “Thirst Wines Merchants”

Noah who is a sales representative at “Thirst Wine Merchants”, was able to answer all questions I had about the business and beyond. He had previously worked at a vineyard site, which allows him to have extensive knowledge about the vinification and viticulture procedures for some of the wines that they carry.

When browsing the shop, I realized that they do not have much “shelf talker” wines. Noah later explained that they do not follow “shelf talker” procedures being that they prefer the personal one on one conversations with their guest about the wines. They believe that through speaking to each individual guest about the wine, it is more likely for the guest to purchase the wine. There happened to be one example of a shelf talker that day:


The only “Shelf Talker” at Thirst Wine Merchants

Noah kindly introduced me to one of their Red wine from Valle De La Orotava, Spain. This wine is produced by Dolores Cabrera Fernandez, whom he highly recommends wine from. Surprisingly, this is one of their most selling red wine from Spain at a cost of $23 dollars per bottle.

heui

Red Wine from Spain

As I continued to browse the store, I realized that there were wine tastings taking place. That’s when I came across the Jour Fixe, which is a sparkling wine that comes from Germany. It was amazing to see that the dominant white grape variety in Germany was also being used for a sparkling wine. Again, Noah explained that this was a common purchased wine.


German Sparkling Wine

After learning of so many different wine regions, the most surprising one was Georgia. Being that I did not grow up with family drinking wine, I had minimal knowledge before taking this course. I was always aware that European countries have mass production of wine, everything outside of that was rare. Noah and Haley who is another sales associate informed me that although it is not sold as often, wines from Georgia are very unique due to its historical content and quality of the grapes.


Wine from Georgia with Historical Content

Overall, what I captured from my visit to Thirst Wine Merchants is that their service is highly personalized and focuses on determining exactly what fits best according to the guest preferences and needs. The staff at this retail shop is well rounded and knowledgeable about all the wines that they carry. They are also well educated and were able to answer all questions regarding their target market, purchasing decisions, etc. Catering to a market of people from ages 26-42, management at Thirst Wine Merchants strive to accommodate their guest with high quality wine ranging from $26 dollars to $199 per bottle. While keeping sustainable practices within their establishment (by carrying all organic wines), Thirst Wine Merchants makes a great impact on society and those who they surround. Everything was extraordinary and I would not change a thing about my experience.


German wine which is the most expensive wine that Thirst wine Merchants carry; cost $200.

Retail Wine Assignment

Posted on by
6

 

Halal Wine

 

Halal Wine

 

 

 

 

 

 

I began my quest in Mitchell’s Wine & Liquors Store On 86th & Amsterdam by first seeking a ‘red wine from a region that I didn’t know made wine’. I stumbled upon this Syrah wine from Israel, which caught me by surprise. Typically, you’d think of wine coming from France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The reason this wine caught me by surprise is because not only is it considered “kosher”, it is from a primarily Islamic are, where drinking is considered ‘Haram’.

 

 

($63.99)

Shelf talker

Next, I captured a picture of a ‘shelf talker’. This shelf talker is basically a review from the Wine Enthusiast guide, critiquing a Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. A 94, according to the Wine Enthusiast guide means the wine is a wine of superior character and style. The red colored bold font is source, the date the source was issued and the score. I’m not entirely sure what the ‘En Route’ meant but I do know that ‘Les Pommiers’ means apple tree. I do not know the significance of the apple tree to this region or wine.

 

 

Cava

This is a sparkling wine from a region other than France- Barcelona, Spain. The Vintage of this wine is 2015. This a Spanish Champagne (Cava), using the Traditional Method.

($45)

  • Rioja

    Rioja

This is a red wine from Spain. The region in which the wine came from is the Rioja region. The The climate of this region is Mediterranean with much rainfall. The grape variety of this wine is Tempranillo and the vintage is 2014.

($23.99)

Overall, I must say my experience was mediocre. The manager of the shop was indeed present but did not know much English, therefore it was very hard for me to ask questions. I even tried to call  before visiting to inform the shop workers that I was going to visit and our phone call was cut short due to the language barrier. I asked if there was a cellar on site and the answer was no. One of the employees, who know some English told me that there was just large wine fridges in the basement and that the small retail area would not allow for a cellar. Another question I attempted to ask was, “which factors were present when selecting their wines?”. As I suspected, the answer was trends. For example, since 86th Street is primarily known as a Jewish community, there you will find he “Halal Wine”. When I asked how the Halal wine was made, the employee could not inform me.