The purchasing power a large grocery store chain has is immense. And the same ability these stores have to buy large amounts of pampers exists for wine as well. Take for example the Publix we have on South Beach. They are cheaper than pretty much any retailer on the beach because of their buying power. If you know you want a bottle of Menage a Trois, go to Publix and get it at $10.99 instead of $12.99 at your liquor store. Of course, you couldn’t find out what their prices were unless you went into a Publix – they are one of the many stores who don’t list their wines online. What, if any, are the costs of purchasing wine from a grocery store instead of a liquor store? Well, for one thing, the same person stocking the wine shelves at a grocery store is the same person bagging your groceries at checkout. They have no knowledge of wine, and so won’t be able to suggest an alternative if the wine you’re looking for is out. Because these same bag boys are the ones stocking the shelves, you can only imagine how many bottles are misplaced and mispriced. And what about the checkout lines? Are you patient enough to stand in line behind the family doing their shopping for the week? These obstacles are enough to encourage many to buy their wines from a nice, organized liquor store.
Personally, I feel the Internet solves the question of where to buy wine. If your grocery store put their wines online, making it possible to compare their prices, they might appear organized enough to buy from them. Of course if they did this, they would have to spend the money to create a user friendly site that was up to date on their wine selections. And you can bet that they would pass this cost onto the consumer. But if bottles are an average of $3 less in the grocery store, and they raised the prices by a mere $1.50 per bottle, they’d still be cheaper. This isn’t good news for local wine stores, but people still have to buy spirits, and Publix isn’t able to sell them…yet. At their local liquor store, once customers have their vodka, scotch, and tequila in hand, they’ll be sure to see what wines are available too.
Of course, a great way to try new wines, and not waste ANY time in ANY store would be to join a wine club – perhaps The South Beach Wine Club.
Tags: cheap wine, grocery store wine, Menage a Trois, Publix wine, south beach wine club, wine online
