Crush Wine and Spirits is located at 153 E 57th st New York, 10022. crush has been in operation since 2005 and is owned by Robert Schagrin and Drew Nieporent amongst others. the hours of operation are from 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday to Friday, 11:00am – 8:00 pm Saturdays and 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm on Sundays. Crush is a busy store and has 25 staff overall that is including the warehouse, and on any single day there are about 16 staff on duty. On this particular day that I visited at around 5:00 pm on Thursday 8th of April there were about seven visible staff on the floor. 2 cashiers upon entry, two sommeliers busy on their computers that are mounted along the center of the store, two staff in an open back office and one cleaner. The store signage and name are well placed for easy identification as shown below.

Upon entry I was taken aback by a sight that suggested I had stepped into a shoe shiner office than a national wine store.The desk and two cashiers on the immediate left when one enters looked to me displaced. I didn’t understand why being a hospitality industry the first sight is cluttered desk rather than being welcomed by inviting and hospitable staff. The second disappointment was that the staff seemed more busy on their computers and with little time for incoming customers. The two cashiers threw a quick glance at me and resumed their work on their computers. I walked up to the center of the store before anyone spoke to me, and I couldn’t help wondering why everyone seemed so busy on their computers. I  was to learn later that, online business is their cash cow.

Crush clientele; about 70% of their business is done online and through the phone, the rest is walk in customers and that is why my presence wasn’t generating much interest. I also noticed that customers who came in seemed well versed with the store and picked their choice and headed to the cashiers. This was a big difference from other wine stores I have visited where staff greet you at the door and have time for customers. The other type of customers are co-operate accounts, but they don’t supply to hotels and restaurants.

Crush wine: Is high quality wine and value-priced sourced from the major wine producing regions of the world. The store focuses on “specialty” wines from the major producers.

Our selection is diverse, but the common theme that unites many of our wine & spirits is their limited production. These wines & spirits are hand-crafted by independent producers whose care and attention is reflected in their individual quality. While a volume-driven producer can ship as many as 4 million cases per year, many of our winemakers produce less than 5,000 cases during the same amount of time. We also carry a wide selection of “friendly faces” that many of our customers are familiar with, all priced competitively with other New York area shops.

The major regions featured amongst others are :- France; Burgundy, Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Alsace, Champagne, Rhone valley and South France. Italy; Central, North and southern Italy. Germany:- Baden, Franken, Nahe and mosel. USA:- Californua, Washington, New York and Oregon. And wines from Austria, New Zealand, Portugal and  Spain.

Display: As the two picture above shows all the wines are displayed by region and grape variety with well written region and varietal names along the top line for easy identification. Small detailed tags with vintage, producer, appellation, wine name and price hang next to each bottle. The price range is from $10:00 -$70:00 and from $70:00 – $1000.00 dollars. The store display and ambience is good and customer friendly paired with good background music that is not noisy nor too faint.

Benefits and Sales: Crush doesn’t do “marketing” but rather has cocktail tastings for spirits every Friday and wine tasting once a month. One distinguishing aspect about wine tasting is that it is always thematic, i.e. every tasting experience is themed along grape variety, region or producer.

Recommendations: Even though it is not to have a reception “per se” the reception area should reflect a welcoming presence or staff should create that atmosphere, that “we are glad to have you here”. Overall the store is well stocked, displayed, and run. The sommelier I spoke to Jared Ramsey was well versed with and knowledgeable in all the areas I enquired about having worked for eight years in the wine industry. Though I couldn’t help feel that he was economical with information so that he could go back to his work, but at the same time being professional.