Total Wine, new near me

[rotuts]

Im always interested in Markets

 

this chain,

 

http://www.totalwine.com

 

just opened near me.  Closer than TJ's   Tj's is not really that far either

 

Wine ( not so much Spirits ) has to be a difficult retail affair.

 

you have taxes, regulation ( which lends itself alway to some sort of graft ) and distributors.

 

in my area, the town TJ's is in did not give that Tj's a liquor license     near by a much more expensive wine and booze store would

 

clearly suffer.

 

how ever this store  took over a wine + store that had nothing special to offer and its prices were high

 

this store is huge, expanding on that smaller foot print.

 

a Ravenswood 'old vine' blend in this store is 6.07   at Tj's its 6.99   

 

TJ's that I go to get 45 % of its revenue from beer/ wine.

 

at a few grocery stores that have managed beer/wine licenses recently sell this for 8.99 to 9.99

 

a Seven deadly Zins   at TJ's is 12.99, and they reduced the price.  here its 10.37

 

brand name liquor, the little I know about it is about 2 - 4 $ cheaper here for 750 cc.

 

have you been to this store ?

 

clearly volume is their goal, with perhaps a few Door-Busters.

 

I like Tj's, and enjoy casual banter w my wine buds there

 

I hope TJ's can adapt.

[gfweb]

We have a couple TWs nearby. Selection is huge.Prices good. Wine expertise...pretty good.

 

Locally I prefer Moore Bros. Small selection, mostly Euro, but it is well curated. Never had a bottle from them that wasn't great. And prices are pretty good too.

[cyalexa]

Sadly, there are no Total Wine stores in OK but I always patronize them when I am traveling and stock up. I have only compared prices of a few things, some with another large retailer in Dallas (Spec's), some on things I can get here. Total Wine has always had the best prices. Additionally, I have been pleased with the service. 

[blue_dolphin]

I like Total Wine.  I find them head and shoulders above BevMo, the other big box store in this area.  Like gfweb said, the selection is huge and prices are good.  Always 10% off for 6 bottles of regular priced wine and frequent coupons for $15 or $20 off a $100 wine purchase.  Their checkout system seems to do a good job of calculating the best discount if multiple offers apply.  

I like that I can search their website and find out if something is in stock and which aisle it's in.  The selection of liquors I buy for cocktails, while not perfect, is still the best in this area.  

For a big box store, the staff expertise is pretty good, they are generally quite helpful and usually staffed appropriately.  

 

I still buy more wine at TJ's because it's convenient for me to pick up a few veg, milk, bread, cheese AND wine in one stop. 

[rotuts]

thanks

[Porthos]

When our local TW opened a few years it immediately became my go-to store. Price, selection, knowledgeable staff + a well stocked humidor for us cigar smokers.

I drink way less wine than I used to, but they have great depth and good prices on beer.

[Midlife]

Total Wine has perhaps the largest selection of wine, beer and spirits of any store.............. period. That means they have a lot of very good product and a lot that is not so good. Their pricing is usually very good, but you need to know what you like as you're not likely to get much good help from their employees.

 

A big rap on their staff is that they're highly 'incentivized' to push sales on their house products (since their margins are highest on those). When a 20-something guy in a shirt and tie tries to tell me that a Pinot Noir I've never heard of, from a region I know is not usually great, is better than one from a winery I respect......... my BS antenna goes up quickly. But, if you know something about what you're looking for.............. you can do fine in their stores. The selection is much better than TJs and BevMo combined...... at least here in SoCal.

[Paul Bacino]

One thing..I liked about Total Wine

 

  Which ...Was our go to in vegas

 

They had workers, that made suggestions on wine!!  I found the worker or workers that had my similar palate.   Used their suggestions.. occasionally.

 

Good selection and decent value,  

[Midlife]

One thing..I liked about Total Wine

 

  Which ...Was our go to in vegas

 

They had workers, that made suggestions on wine!!  I found the worker or workers that had my similar palate.   Used their suggestions.. occasionally.

 

Good selection and decent value,  

If your experiences with staff recs have been good that's all that really matters. Overall, Total Wine doesn't get great reviews for staff wine help, but the only thing that's important is calibrating your own palate to someone there you then learn to trust.