Comments on: Whole Foods Bowery: yes food, no wine

By: Tired of chain stores

Tired of chain stores — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:12:48 +0000

To say that Whole foods is not a discounter is to be either disingenuous or simply misinformed. First of all, they sell a range of wines under private label - available only through Whole Foods and therefore entirely free from any constraints from your evidently sacrosanct laws of free market competition. Secondly, wider profit margins on these items - or on cheese, organic popsicles or what-all, allow them to operate with particularly narrow margins on high-profile items, giving the general impression that the wine selection is well priced over all. Finally, Whole-Foods wine buyers - at least in my state- routinely pressure distributors for illegal, under the table extra deals (extra cases on volume purchases, concert tickets, etc.) which allow them to purchase wines for less than any other purchaser in the state, thereby competing unequally with those smaller stores you seem to think are habitually bilking you. If the only thing that matters is buying Flying Saucer red, Fat Bastard ‘Shiraz’ or whatever the Chardonnay of the moment is for a dollar or two less, then this seems fine, I am certain.
In any case, the idea that in NYC the choices are between over-priced shops with terrible selection and something like Trader Joes’ or Whole Foods is downright silly. The City teems with shops with carefully selected line-ups, great staff and shockingly competetive prices, given wht theypay in rent. And no, I am not a wine retailer in NY.
Finally - Exactly like hammers, many, many, many of the wines we drink today are just that - bulk commodities - the California wine sea is available by futures contracts - just like pork bellies - to whomsoever wishes to invent a fictitous winery, buy juice, and affix a multi-coloured label with a silly name. Decent small shops offer one of the only means of negotiating ones’ way through the oceans of mediocre swill about.

By: Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Whole Foods London vs Whole Foods Bowery: London wins

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:09:37 +0000

[...] our Riedel stemware: the new Whole Foods on High Street Kensington in London beats the snot out of Whole Foods Bowery from a wine perspective. Roll the tape from the Financial [...]

By: kirk

kirk — Tue, 15 May 2007 03:33:34 +0000

as far as i know, there’s only ONE member on the community board that owns establishment(s) with serving liquor and that member does not have a son (so get your facts straight). but if you’re implying that there’s some anti-competitiveness going on … well, i’m not going to comment on that.

By: hunter

hunter — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:46:01 +0000

The community board includes on its membership, several wine store owners…so you do the math. It’s people using something that’s suppose to serve the community to serve themselves. People like the owner of nice guy eddie’s who miracuosly has several bars and wine stores, because he doesn’t hold the licenses to all of them…his son does, his wife does, some more of the sopranos do. you get the picture? Welcome to new york.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 01:16:47 +0000

This is really well put, but I also wondered about the efficacy of simply making a reasoned argument, since the responsible forces (Albany, even local political bodies) are intransigent. On the other hand, I did not realize that the six of seven law, itself of recent vintage, had in fact been modified. I do admit that I have started to wonder which day certain venues had chosen since they are always open when I pass.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:33:29 +0000

Where’s the law saying the little local wine shops in Manhattan shall not be grossly overpriced and have a terrible selection? If it exists, places like Elizabeth and Vine would be gone in a heartbeat.

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:50:01 +0000

Come on, Nate! Just because other states have crazy wine retailing laws too doesn’t mean we can take this lying down! We’ve got to fight…for our right…to drink wine!

By: New York Has Crazy Wine Retailing Laws | LifeParticles

New York Has Crazy Wine Retailing Laws | LifeParticles — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:02:22 +0000

[...] Whole Foods Bowery: yes food, no wine [Dr.Vino] (Photo: JasonJT) [...]

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:36:57 +0000

Eh, no big deal, in Connecticut no supermarket can sell wine or liquor, only beer and malt beverages (Smirnoff Ice etc), and only until 9pm and not on Sundays. Liquor stores sell everything (same time/day restrictions).

Alcohol restrictions are quite often byzantine and a result of outdated laws. What can you do?

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:32:40 +0000

Great points, Lia!

And oh yes Dave, there are many more laws–I was just getting started! Thankfully some of the more bizarre ones have been repealed, such as no free tastings. In fact, the 6 days out of 7 law has also been repealed and you’ll find many of the top shops in the city are open 7 days now–but still not before noon on Sundays.

Cheers,

By: dave

dave — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:46:37 +0000

You missed the law that says that you can’t sell beer and wine/liquor in the same store. Or the law that says you can sell wine/liquor only 6 days a week, but they can be any six days of the stores choosing. Beer and soft wine can be sold 7 days a week in grocery stores, but not before noon on Sundays. There are also laws preventing serving alcohol in restaurants located too close to churches.

These issues aren’t stemming from New York City, they’re coming directly from Albany.

By: lia

lia — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:18:00 +0000

I live on Houston and think it’s ridiculous they don’t have a wine license—the LES/EV is the epicenter of drunk in Manhattan, with all the crazy bars, and you’re not going to let Whole Foods sell wine? The wine stores in the neighborhood are great, and like you said, Whole Foods is not a discounter, so I don’t see what they’ve got to worry about if they’ve already established a proper rapport with their customers. There’s nothing like going to a small store that specializes in something and talking to an owner who can tell you about every single thing he has in stock.