I don’t often rant about stuff, but this has been bothering me for a while. I’ve worked in restaurants and wine shops for years. I’ve managed wine lists with hundreds of selections, and done over $1 million in wine sales per year at the last restaurant I worked at. As a wine buyer, you become aware of the concept of “buying power.” It’s kind of a game really, one of those “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” kinda thing. I would focus most of my buying between a small handful of wine distributors in order to get the lowest possible wholesale costs. And when you are a significant account for a wine distributor, you get perks.
I’ve been taken to Napa and Sonoma to tour some of it’s most prestigious vineyards and wineries; I’ve been put up at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood for showing certain brands some love. All on the distributor’s dime. Not to mention endless free product to quench my thirst. Recently I’ve made the move from restaurants back to the retail side, in a small boutique wine shop. We have a strong clientele, especially the neighborhood folks who enjoy our free wine tasting and great customer service.
The competition is a bitch. Being a small wine shop, we can only do so much volume. One of our biggest competitors is Argonaut, a massive warehouse-style liquor store. They often have things priced cheaper than we can get them at wholesale. All the distributors can say is “sorry, you don’t spend millions of dollars with us per year. They do.”
I understand economic times are hard, but it is important to support your small, local family owned shops. They’re almost a thing of the past, strangled by low internet prices and the huge warehouse liquor stores. And here’s a little secret. In the big liquor stores, there’s lots of people waiting to help you with your wine selections. Guess who they work for. The distributors. They’re the reps, waiting to push their product on you.
This whole concept goes against everything that wine stands for. Wine means sharing, community, and a general connection with the earth and environment. Not mafioso-style “arrangements.”
The rich get richer, while the real people struggle. Go buy some wine from people who actually care about wine.
Rant over.
5 Responses to “The Battle Between Wine Shops And Liquor Warehouses”
The more you can educate people on the pleasures of unique and well-made wines, as opposed to the machine-made wines of the warehouses, you can keep a steady flow of customers.
If you can do frequent focused tastings and educational sessions on varietals, regions, styles, you will get more people interested in your selections. As people learn more about wine, they will seek out the smaller, artisan producers.
Even the biggest wine warehouse can’t stock everything. Not all customers want to buy swill at rock-bottom prices.
Thanks for chiming in, Larry. I totally agree. Out customers come for our educated palates. They come back because they love our recommendations and unique selections. And our free wine tastings. I just had to adress my displeasure, and express the importance of showing the small guys some love!
Completely acceptable rant – Similar issues in the UK. An independent in the right place can do well, but independents in general are in for a pretty rough time, finding it increasingly difficult to survive as they struggle to compete with supermarket discounts and ludicrous import taxes.
Is the UK on the three-tier system? We are here in Colorado. So basically wineries must be sold through one sole distributor before retailers or restaurants can purchase them.
One of the reasons that little change comes to the distribution system is that the retail sector of the industry is split. While many small and large wine retailers are supporters of liberalizing the three tier system, many other retailers are joined at the hip with wholesalers who have no interest in seeing any change come to the three tier system.
For example, by allowing self distribution of wine from producer directly retailers across state lines, we’d see many retailers have access to goods wholesalers don’t represent. This would give retailers a way to differentiate themselves from the competition. Likewise, seeing more states allow legalized shipping to consumers from out-of-state retailers (only 13 allow it) would give smaller retailers larger markets to go after.
Yet wholesalers oppose these kinds of commonsense changes and too often retailers go along with that opposition.
Tom Wark
Specialty Wine Retailers Association