The Retail shop that I visited was the “Quality House Wines & Spirits” shop which is located at 2 Park Ave in Midtown Manhattan; This establishment has been selling wines to the public for over 80 years starting in 1934.
Upon my arrival I immediately noticed that they had a “featured wines” display rack for wines that were popular at the time and or sold way more appose to the others; the display rack was divided into rows by countries that the wines originated and segmented from top to bottom based on popularity. for example French and Italian wines are more popular so they were at the first row, the middle rows was Spanish wines, and last two rows were new world wines.
To the right side of the shop closest to the entrance was the racks for sparkling wines which was finite compared to rest of the catalogues of wines on the taller racks in the rear of the shop passed the display rack. on the left side of the shop closest to the entrance was a clerks desk where you made your purchase if you were to buy a bottle.
I was then greeted by the clerk when I approached the desk; then I introduced myself and requested a tour after explaining my objective. as I was guided through the shop I expressed my observations to the clerk while he explained to me the origins of the shop. He also gave me recommended selection list of wines that other consumers enjoyed as I explained to him my wine preferences. The last thing that stood out to me the most was the overall cleanliness of the shop and how well maintained to wines looked on the racks for a over 80 year old shop; from the renovations and the attention to detailed by the employees you wouldn’t think that this shop isn’t new. Overall I enjoyed my visit as I was treated very nicely by the clerk and the other employees; before I exited I requested a business card and was informed that they didn’t have any at the moment and referred me to their website if I had any more questions.
I like that there was a featured wines rack. Because I don’t know much about wine, it would be nice to know what is popular with people who do know wine.
Yes I also saw it as a great idea for anyone who doesn’t know wine to chose something that is generally liked by most customers.
These bottles are so elegant, wow.
Andre,
Its so interesting that you mentioned the cleanliness of the store because honestly, that isn’t something that I would think of when it comes to retail stores. Usually I would only think of cleanliness when it came to places I was going to eat. I almost wonder if having a dusty wine shop adds to a certain aesthetic of old mature wines. Either way, nice food for thought! I will be checking how clean a wineshop is next time I visit!
A list of customer recommended wines is an engaging approach to selling, I like that.