In Bridgepoint Shopping Center in Foster City
- Total Wines is now open in Foster City’s Bridgepoint Shopping Center. It is an expansive store with an extensive inventory of wines, beers and spirits.
- The Bridgepoint Total Wines store will compete with two nearby BevMo stores, Burlingame and San Mateo. From first glance, it has much more to offer to the savvy wine consumer than BevMo.
- The Bridgepoint Total Wines is well laid out, bright, inviting and nicely organized.
Vintage Wine Taster Mike and I attended a sneak preview of the Total Wines store at Bridgepoint Shopping Center in Foster City. The Total Wine Shop is located in the spot of the now-defunct SportsMart company. The store is immense, and Total Wines has made excellent use of the space. It includes an online pickup area, a classroom area for wine classes and a cigar-humdifier area. The wide aisles make for convenient browsing activities. The grand opening is set for March 22 to March 25.
According to WineBusiness.com: “Total Wine is the largest family-owned wine retailer in the United States, with 174 stores and roughly $1.4 billion in wine sales – the fourth largest wine retailer in the country after Costo, Albertsons/Safeway, and Kroger.” With that size business comes purchasing power and leverage with distributors and direct winery sales. Hence, many wine bargains for the wine consumer.
First Impressions of Total Wines
This is a big wine store, customer oriented with plenty of inventory to suit the average wine consumer. If you like spirits and beer, there is plenty of that too. At first glance, besides domestic wines, Total Wines has a good selection of wines from around the world. Wide prices range from costly to under $3, something for all wine budgets. Following the opening night preview, I shopped at Total Wines the next day. I spent a good hour perusing the wine shelves and selecting some wines to sample. On top of the prices listed, I used the grand opening coupon for $10 off each $50 purchase. My coupon is good until June. Check your local newspaper or the Total Wines Website for coupon opportunities.
So far, my take on Total Wines. The Pluses: 1. Dealing with wineries direct. Dealing with the winery eliminates the middleman, and that should translate to lower prices. These wines are labeled “Winery Direct.” 2. A rather massive selection of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet from very expensive to under $10. 3. An excellent inventory of wines from Italy, France and Spain. 4. The store is set up for the wine browser. The Minuses: 1. Like any wine store or wine shop, you must know your wine prices. Some wines are priced higher than at other nearby stores. Almost next door to Total Wines in BridgePoint is World Market. World Market has better prices on the Location Wines by David Phinny. 2. There are so many different wines that it is not possible that anyone on the staff can give a personal opinion on all the wines. 3. The staff is still learning the layout. I asked for the Cava sparkling wines section, and I followed the clerk on a wild-goose chase. 4. There is no substitute for a good wine shop for finding unique wines and dealing with someone who knows your wine interests.
Should you shop at Total Wines?
Yes, there are bargains to be found but don’t make it your exclusive wine dealer. Don’t eliminate Costco, Safeway or your local wine shop for finding different wines. BevMo, on the other hand, is a different story. My first impression is that the local BevMo stores will lose customers to Total Wines. Total Wines has much more wine from recognizable wineries selling for a lot less than BevMo. BevMo should be worried. If you find something you like or do not like at Total Wines, please comment.
All-out war on BevMo at Total Wines
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