Total Wine launches Bay Area superstore expansion
The Maryland-based retailer plans to add two stores in October
SAN JOSE » Total Wine & More, on the heels of opening a Mountain View superstore during the spring, has mounted a Bay Area expansion that will include new stores in San Jose and Pleasanton, the wine, beer and spirits retailer said Thursday.
One of the new Total Wine superstores will be located at 4225 Rosewood Drive in the Rose Pa- vilion shopping center in Pleasanton, and the other will be at 5140 Cherry Ave. in the Almaden Ranch Marketplace in San Jose.
“This is a strategic expansion to a part of California that has educated and informed wine, beer and spirits consumers,” said Edward Cooper, a spokesman for Total Wine.
Maryland-based Total Wine opened a store in Mountain View last April.
“The Mountain View store is performing well,” Cooper said.
The retailer’s San Jose store is scheduled to open Oct. 12 and the Pleasanton store should open Oct. 26, the company said. The Pleasanton store is in a former CVS drugstore space.
“Both locations feature local demographics that align well with our stores and our brand,” Cooper said. “Wine, beer and spirits loving consumers who are looking for price, service and selection plus a unique in-store experience” are the retailer’s primary targets, Cooper added.
The Mountain View store has about 50 employees and both the San Jose and Pleasanton superstores are expected to have a similar number of workers.
“Our local store managers and HR team have been in the market for some time interviewing potential team members,” Cooper
said. “We will be ready for when the stores open next month, but we are always looking for talented individuals to join our store teams.”
The company indicated that it intends to offer attractive wages to its new workers.
“Our goal is for 75 percent of those hires to be full-time with good wages, full benefits and the opportunity for our team members to make a career with us and progress in the com- pany,” Cooper said.
Total Wine is eyeing even more sites, but wouldn’t disclose those locations.
The company said the two new stores, as is the case with its other outlets, will contain wine- and beer-sampling areas.
“These kinds of stores do well in areas with a strong economy,” said Michael Messinger, principal executive and owner of the San Jose office of Meacham/ Oppenheimer CORFAC International, a commercial realty brokerage specializing in retail leasing. “With wines and spirits, it takes more of a higher-income bracket to spend the dollars for a higher-priced wine.”
The wine- and beer-tasting options, along with classes to teach people about wine, can help differentiate Total Wine from rivals such as BevMo, according to Leslie Sbrocco, a Petaluma- based wine author, expert and consultant. Total Wine also typically has the lowest wine retail prices in its respective markets, she said.
“The educational classes would help everyone appreciate wine and spirits, and better education helps people spend more money because they would know the difference between a top wine and a lesser wine,” Messinger said.
These kinds of retailers also might be able to better withstand the digital onslaught of Amazon and other online behemoths, experts said.
“The concept of a specialty retailer is they sell things that you have to see physically, or buy in person, something that requires you to go to a brick-andmortar store,” Messinger said. “Specialty wine and beer retailers are not too affected by Amazon and other online sites.”