I decided to visit the Park Avenue Liquor Shop; do not let the name fool you, as this store carries a huge selection of alcoholic beverages, (not just liquor) from outside the United States. The Park Avenue Liquor Store recently moved from its previous location, into a more spacious building. It is now located at 270 Madison Avenue, in Manhattan.
My ideal store happened to have the most horrible display of hospitality I have ever seen since my visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles last year. It is important to mention this as the associate who assisted me in the store happened to mention that the previous establishment is known for being rude and unfriendly; but I digress.
The associate at the Liquor Shop, Ben, was the most attentive employee in regards to questions, concerns, and information. He explained that the store recently moved, so their entire stock of wine had not completely transferred over yet, and thus explained the ladders, set-up diagrams on the floor, and some empty shelves. Other than that, the store is spacious, with wine shelves that housed a stock of the wine bottles on the display shelves. The store was organized in terms of the type of wine, and country. There were signs above the shelves as well as the ceiling in order to help distinguish what you could expect to find in that section. The regions varied from France, California, Germany, and Italy, to name a few. While the store was in the middle of a location transition, all the necessary displays have been already setup, with the regions and bottles mostly organized.
The price range in the store ranged from incredibly inexpensive wine starting at $5, all the way to $2000. According to Ben, they also had wine in much higher price ranges, which were obviously kept out of sight, under lock, and under the strictest temperature regulations. The interesting thing about the store is that the temperature will fluctuate in order to keep the wines chilled. Ben gave me a wine catalogue, which contained all the wines the store carried, as well as the highest quality wines, which cost $15,000 and even more. Although the catalogue given to me was for the previous season, it was more than enough to give me a general idea of the liquors that the store has available. Not only does this store sell individual bottles, but also by case, due to the nature of clients who purchase from them.
A benefit that I immediately noticed as soon as I walked in the store was the great customer service in this store. At any point, whether you are a new customer, or a returning one, the employees are eager to help. Any complaints (not that there will be many), will always be promptly addressed by the employees. This is definitely the place to go to for your wine needs. Even as I made my way out the door, Ben insisted I return, and only come to the Park Avenue Liquor Store to buy all my alcoholic beverages; with a personality like that, and the hospitality received, I can’t think of any other place I would rather purchase from.

The Front of the store.

I thought they wouldn’t mind letting me take pictures inside the store since they were friendly but they didn’t allow it.

Retail Wine Shop Experience – Gusmary Sanchez

For my Retail Wine Shop Analysis I decided to go to Bottle Rocket which is located at 5 W 19 street. I can say I had a good experience because all the employees were very attentive and friendly with me. As soon as I walked in the store they approached me and offered help. I enjoyed the atmosphere in the wine shop because of the colors and designs it had. I had the opportunity to talk with one of the employees and she explained how they carried wines from different places such as Argentina, Australia, Chile, Germany, Italy, France etc. They arranged their wines in two different ways. First they had their wines in alphabetical order on the shelves. And the other way is that they have different selections of inventory in the middle store. They have different sections of wine that gives you a brief summary of the wine, where it comes from, and the food you can have with the wine.  These sections are divided into different categories such as poultry, meat, seafood and desserts. This was very interesting because as soon as you go in to the store you see different sections. Which I believed is a great idea because you are able to see the wine, the information, and the food you can have with it and have an idea of how to find the wine in an easier way. It helps the researcher have a better understanding of the wine they want to purchase.

As I was exploring the wine shop I noticed that the prices of the wines were affordable except some wines from Burgundy. Burgundy had a whole section at the back of the store. I asked her and she said that Burgundy plays a very important role in that store because it’s very popular and many costumers always want wines from Burgundy. She also explained that they don’t have a specific section for old wine because all the wines they have are from new vintage. They also have different shelves for dessert wines, liqueurs, and champagne. They also offer free wine tasting every Thursday to Saturday from 5- 8pm. I went Monday and I couldn’t try their wines. Overall I liked my experience because the employers gave me a nice attention that I always look forward to in a place. And they also have different types of wines that I would like to taste. When I was leaving she gave me a card and told me to call her if I had  more questions.

The front of the wine shop.

wine section in alphabetical order by country.

White Wine Display.

Red Wine Display.

Sparkling Wine Display.

Burgundy Section

Different Selection of inventory in the middle of the store. Including Meat, poultry, seafood dessert etc.

Retail Wine Shop Analysis- Richard Buren

    Doing this retail wine shop was interesting,  I ended up going to 3 wines shops, two being in the city and one in my home town Queens. The first wine shop I went to was Chelsea Wine Vault, located within Chelsea Market in the Lower Westside. This wine shop had a semi old school  due to being made out of brick yet had hipster vibe to it. The wines that they had were separated by region. Some of those regions are Spain, Chile, Germany, South Africa,  America,  and many more. The employees were friendly and informative by telling me that they have wines aged in Oak and steel barrels. He told me that oak aged wines were more popular in America. He also showed me two different wines one aged in Oak and one aged in steel. The one aged in steel was the Natura a Chardonnay saying Un-oakes on the bottle from Chile and the aged in Oak was Rombauer also a Chardonnay. In the stored, they had their cellar which people were allowed walk in and look at what they have stored. The cellar is temperature and humidity controlled room, where they hold their more expensive and older wines which is also arranged by region. I wouldn’t know all of this if it wasn’t for the helpful and informative employees.

     From a hipster old school  wine shop to a modern and more inviting wine shop located on 38 st and Madison, called Park Avenue Liquor Shop. Recently moved to this new and more spacious location about a year ago,  walking in felt more inviting and welcoming , due to how chill and friendly the employees were. As soon as I asked to take pictures, one employee showed me  wines that might me cool yet interesting to take a picture of like a Opus One a Napa Valley red wine which is favored by the Asian population and also Opus One was mentioned in a Jay Z song. Another cool and interesting wine to take a picture of was their  Bordeaux section where they had some of their pricier wines shown on display. Their wines were also arrange by region where the prices ranges from inexpensive to high priced wines due to popularity. They have a cellar which is located down stairs  with more expensive wines arranged by region. Besides the cellar, they have a another room with more higher end and rare wine as far as late 1800s that you need a special key  to get in there.

     Last but not least was the Hunter’s Point wines and Spirits in Long Island City Queens,  their logo was my favorite, it was unique and sophisticated and modern red and black sign , but the inside had the sophisticated classy feel yet eerie due to I was the only customer there and the employees didn’t really have that welcoming feel. Their wines were arrange from region and prices and some were aged in steel and oak. The wines that were displayed had a description about the wine and what you would expect from that wine to taste and also a food pairing that will match the wine.

• the one aged in steel barrel was the Natura ,a Chardonnay  saying Un-Oaked on the label of the bottle from Chile and the one Aged in Oak was the Rombauer

• Opus One a Napa Valley red wine which is favored by the Asian population and also Opus One was mentioned in a Jay Z song
• Bordeaux section where they had some of their pricier wines shown on display

• unique and sophisticated and modern red and black sign
• The wines that were displayed had a description about the wine and what you would expect from that wine to taste and also a food pairing that will match the wine.

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For our retail wine shop assignment I had chosen to do a comparison between the two locations in queens. My first location that I visited was called “ Grand wine and liquor” located in Astoria 30-05 31^st, once entering this location I right away got a bad impression of the quality of service I was about to receive. It seemed as having a super market feel environment, which is not what I was expecting. As I approached the manager on duty they were very nice until I began to ask the questions, which they had no idea about the wines they carried. Within the location they carried wines from the regions of Italy, France, Germany, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, California, New York and Washington. By the knowledge they were aware of the lady said they arranged the wines by the regions they were from and then separated whites, reds, and blushes. This location gave me the motivation to visit the second location in hunters point.

My second retail wine shop was a large difference in knowledge and environment feel. They arranged their wine depending on quality, price and region. As I walked into the location it was a low light condition atmosphere. At the front of the store you would find the bottles of wine that range from 30 dollars and under. Wines at this location were from the regions of U.S, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Germany, Austria, Greece, Argentina, and Chile. As you made your way to the back you passed a little tunnel and you entered the area of quality wines and their aging rack. Here they carried wines for your specifications whether you would like to enjoy them fresh or aged. He also described to me that certain bottles that are fermented in oak have different percentages of oak. This would vary on the wine maker to choose what flavor he wanted. He also advised me how for his white wines he would prefer a wine that is fermented in steel because it enhances a cleaner, crisper taste in his opinion. They had a glassed enclosed room with stacks of bottles in cases laying on their back, this was the section of their aging bottles. He said in an enclosed temperature control environment the wines age better and give the wine better quality.

This was the store front of the Hunters point location Wine and Spirits

here is the display of the white wines that are fermented with oak

This is one of their aged red wine from 2009 which i as actually surprised was standing up and not layer down

This is the visual of the back room for their quality wines

this is the display from the grand wines and liquor store in astoria, all the wines from the regions are placed together one separation is colors

SoHo Wines & Spirits

On Monday afternoon I visited SoHo Wines and Sprits store located on 461 West Broadway, the front display window of the store contained a pyramid made out of boxes of  Verve Cliquiot ,some Möet Champagne are also represented. An aged Bordeaux Red Wine displayed in a wooden box, White wines, Sparkling wines are represent in the display window. Walking into this store, the door is made of glass. The check out is right once you enter the store. As I kept walking in, the first marketing I noticed was a set up of Champagne.

Stephen Masullo was the floor manager on duty, I asked him how come they chose to have a set up of champagne right when people walk in and also in the front display?  Massillon quickly answered “ Because this is SoHo,PARTY city”.

As Masullon took the time to give me a quick tour of his store, he explained the layout of this particular Wine store. The objective is to get the guest to experience on their own every country and their regions. The store is broken up into sections. Each shelves within the section contains a regions. This store is spacious and open where the guest can easy locate any wine they will like to purchase. the following question asked “ What is the oldest Bordeaux wine you carry in the store? Masullon pointed right to the middle of the floor within the section of France .“ The oldest Bordeaux wine we carry is a 2003,we mostly carry some young Bordeaux .”

What is the difference between a “New world and an Old world? A wine of Cabernet from California will most likely feel more full and fruity than a wine from Bordeaux. what does it mean to decant a wine?

To decant a wine it all depends if the wine is younger or an aged wine. To decant a wine can take from thirty minutes to three hours. For younger wine thirty minutes is recommended to awaken the wine. For aged wine decant can take longer, time will cause wine to have sediment. Which decant is recommended before drinking any aged wine for an enjoyable and tasteful glass of wine.

The store overall was clean and fun to experience, Masullon took the time to ask me some questions about wine, since I told him I was creating an analysis of his shop. He also invited me on November 3rd, to go by and enjoy wine tasting with a small group he is going to host during holidays.

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FRONT OF THE STORE

FRENCH WINE  SECTION

SPARKLING WINE SECTION

CALIFORNIA SECTION

SHELVES REPRESENTS THE REGION

FRANCE AND ITALY SECTION

DISPLAY IN THE FRONT

PRICE LIST FOR CHAMPAGNE

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