I for one, am a huge supporter of the local wine store, and local economy in general. If there is a comparable product that is not double the price at a local merchant, I’ll choose to buy locally every time.

As such, my husband and I regularly shop at the local wine stores in Saratoga County and very much enjoy getting to know the staff who then in turns can recommend wines they know will match or expand our tastes. My husband however, also buys wine online when he find something that sounds fantastic. He’s an equal opportunity purchaser.

As a couple, we also enjoy beer, a product readily available at the supermarket. We hardly ever buy our beer from the grocery store, though when the occasion calls for it, it’s incredibly convenient to purchase a 6-pack enroute to a get together. Most often however, we buy our beer from the local guys, the guys that carry the best belgian, and belgian style beers. Maybe it’s because our tastes tend to the microbrew that we shop here, but none the less, we choose local over supermarket convenience.

I would think, should wine be available, I’d occasionally buy it at the grocery store when time or convenience was of the essence. But more often than not, I’d head to the local wine shop. There, I know I’d find a better selection and if the store was worth its salt, a good value on a great bottle.

I can’t say if this is the tack most buyers would take, but I have to imagine, what with how many people really enjoy the process of finding a good bottle, there are probably a few out there who share my sentiment.

In my opinion, the people who buy beer at the grocery store probably aren’t the same people who buy local microbrews at the specialty beer shop. I think the same logic applies to wine. Those consumers are already buying from the Total Wine’s of the world, not from the small mom n pops. Let the grocery stores have them, there is a place for everyone, and a lot of people prefer the easily identifiable, “I know exactly what I’m drinking” approach. It’s why Americans eat McDonalds in Paris and Tokyo.

Understanding your audience, embracing a niche-market (freakin’ awesome wines!), and engaging in competition are all opportunities to do a better job and gain even more loyal customers. Wine is too important to too many people to become generic. For those that are willing to adapt, huge potential could exist for an even greater and more dedicated following of great wines!

Good read, thanks for sharing!

600 towns in upstate with no liquor stores.

Wow, who knew? I am sure that they have grocery stores that would love to sell their patrons some wine!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04thur4.html

Not sure what you meant here, that already is the case in a lot of stores, speciality or otherwise – New York State wines right next to $9 wines from Chile, Australia, Portugal, etc. The difference is that in a small store, someone can hand sell a New York State wine. By themselves, most people will choose something other than New York State wine. It’s just a fact.

There is no question that there are other states with healthy systems. The point is that there is an amazing and unique system in place here in NYC that would be threatened. Ironically, the tenets of capitalism are what make it so unique and amazing – there is a lot of competition, which makes for an astounding number of choices for the consumer. It’s a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. I’m sure that there is a plan that can address these issues in a better fashion than what’s on the table now.

Once again, there is a big difference between NYC and upstate. It is much more reasonable to argue that the system in place for 35 other states would be just as appropriate for upstate New York. However, NYC throws a wrench into the mix, and that can’t be ignored when 70% of the state’s population is in the metro area – though the real argument is not that NYC has weight to throw around, it’s that there is a market in place here that should actually be celebrated instead of being told to fall in line with what works for other states that bear little resemblance to the market and facts of life in the Big Apple.

Well said. Great commentary. Truly. But let’s get some facts straight…The Governor, last year, attempted to put wine in supermarkets. It was not a well thought out plan. Retailers/Wholesalers flooded the politicians with money to make it go away. Unwilling to negotiate. The supermarkets then flooded airwaves with money right back. But, laststoreonmainstreet existed well in advance of Wegman’s or others spending money on their campaign.

One year later, wine stores still refuse to negotiate. They want all or nothing. At some point in the future, these wine stores will lose the battle. 35 states allow wine in supermarkets. Have you visited these 35 states? In most markets, many small, boutiquey wine stores THRIVE. GO out to California, the market most similar to NY, and show me how allowing wine in supermarkets has destroyed the market for wine shops.

You cannot. The truth is that while you want specialty shops everywhere, most people do not. Who is the number 1 wine retailer in the country? Costco. Why? Well, the real question we need to ask is why not? Is costco doing a disservice by offering a good selection of wines at good prices? Heck, aren’t they the top buyer of classified growth Bordeaux in the US for the past 5 years?

Imagine if Costco started carrying NYS wines up in the FLX, and other upstate regions.

To limit competition by not allowing “$9 wines from Chile, Australia, Portugal, and other hot climates that are closer to many American palates” next to New York State wines is limiting capitalism, is it not?

At the end of the day, this is not about saving the mom n pop wine stores (the specialty stores, as you say), this is about saving the BIG liquor stores (Premier, Viscount, BevMax, etc.) The ones with a lot of square feet dedicated to the very brands that you despise. Those “big box” stores will lose out on that Woodbridge magnum business that they have come to rely on.

And, truthfully, if a small specialty wine store is reliant upon that business, then they are not really a small specialty wine store, are they?

And let’s not bring Pennsylvania into the equation. Two wrongs do not make a right.

The truth is, there is open competition and prices are such that there are no monopolistic pricing schemes in place – if a wine shop in New York charges too much, another shop can easily undersell them. Wine-Searcher and the internet make this possible every day. And, of course, if the competition was so restricted and choked off in New York as some say it is, then why are there tens of thousands of calls from residents of other states to buy wine from New York retailers? Surely if there were above- market prices and unfair competition, this would not be happening. The amount of consumer dissatisfaction is grossly overstated.

The bottom line is that small businesses are crucial to our economy, and I, like many, are sick of bix box stores. Buy everything in the same place? Who cares. Give me someone who’s passionate about their specialty any day.

Theoretically, there is supposed to be an open market where consumers choose between the small specialty shop and the “big choice” chain, but that choice oddly disappears when the former is forced out and one can hardly boycott the last supplier in town.

This is the time to start fighting back and putting more choice back in the hands of customers. The inability to buy wine at the grocery store with one’s orange juice is not a restrictive market or an assault at capitalism -just look at states like Pennsylvania if you really want a restrictive liquor sales system. In fact, our current system arguably brings more competition and more choice than other systems, which are of course all of benefit to the consumer. Can you buy wine and gasoline at the same place? No, but does anybody actually want that? Hardly seems like the crisis of the moment. Small businesses surviving is an actual issue, not some made-up triviality.

I also can’t believe New York State wines doing better lingering on a shelf next to $9 wines from Chile, Australia, Portugal, and other hot climates that are closer to many American palates. Better to keep striving for better wine and getting into the hands of supportive wine retailers that will hand sell it to the public. You’d have to create many more convoluted and restrictive laws than we have now to get consumers to buy significantly more New York wines, I should think.

If a lobby wants to argue in favor of my position, fine, their finances don’t refute the correctness of their position.

At the end of the day, where to buy wine, orange juice, vitamins, paint brushes, tooth brushes, gasoline, chinese food, etc etc ought to be the choice of the consumer, not the choice of an old time lobbying organization that has yet to adjust to the 21st century.