Archive for the ‘Business Tips for Wine Shop Owners’ Category

I’m going to let this article on what the Amazon purchase of Whole Foods means speak for itself, adding just one thought: [level-members] In the next few years, brick-and-mortar wine stores will slowly become havens for … hardcore connoisseurs whose need for small-batch, obscure regional varietals cannot be met by a corporate behemoth like Amazon. This […]

To keep in the hyper-competitive retail world these days – which, of course, includes the internet as a competitor – your wine shop has to offer more than just wine. [level-members] That doesn’t mean you need to offer while-you-wait oil changes, but it does mean making the experience more than transactional.  Many small shop owners do this […]

Watch your shelf talkers and other signage. Be careful that laziness can’t be interpreted as deceptiveness – and for heaven’s sake, Don’t Be Deceptive! [level-members] We just came across an article from a bit more than a year ago about findings in Connecticut of widespread misleading wine store signage. I have no doubt that there […]

It might not seem that the video giant that’s upending the world of TV and movies would have much to do with your wine shop, but it does. [level-members] Before we get into the how and why, let me just say that if yours is the kind of shop that has Yellow Tail displayed front […]

Technology outpaces the law everywhere else, so why not in the wine and liquor business? [level-members] We aren’t quite to the point where a drone can deliver a chilled glass of rosé to you in your poolside chaise, but home delivery has come a long way from the local shop owner’s teenage son lugging a […]

You can stick your head in the sand as a main street retail wine shop, but that’s not going to change what’s going on above ground. Direct-to-consumer sales are here and they’re growing. [level-members] And while I would love to tell you I have the sure-fire recipe for surviving this change, I don’t. Part of […]

Could be. If so, it’s a slow death, since we’re all still here and the article asking this question is something I unearthed from 2015! [level-members] This isn’t a story of big box retailers, online behemoths, and supermarket chains eating our lunch. This is much broader than that. This is the story of consumer expectations […]

Your wine shop is covered for peacock intrusion, right? [level-members] Sounds like a joke, right. Well it’s certainly kind of funny, until you realize that there was apparently $500 in damage from the peahen’s seeminly innocent visit to a California wine shop.     Read the full article and view the video here. All kidding […]

As we learn that normal people – meaning people not in the Washington, DC bubble – are rescheduling meetings and arranging viewing parties for James Comey’s testimony later this week, I’m reminded of an old GSM post. It got a lot of traffic when it first ran, and seems even more timely now.[level-members] Do wine […]

You may think you are competing on price in your retail wine shop, but your customers know otherwise. [level-members] According to a 2014 survey by Rosen Retail, price was all the way down at #6 on consumers’ list of what drove them to shop one store over another. Service and selection topped the list, in […]