Total Wine v.s. Liquor Barn

I haven't done exhaustive research but based on the products that WE buy the (new) Total Wine and Spirits in The Paddock Shops is WAY cheaper than The Liquor Barn...Sometimes by as much as 25%. Just thought I'd "share" in case anyone was stocking up for the holidays. As an aside, I've also noticed that the employees at The Barn have gotten a LOT more friendly/helpful and that the company is flooding TV with commercials since TW&S opened.

Total wine is buying market share. Anything in their ads is 9 cents over cost (essentially loss leaders). The goal is to hook you with the great price on "the usual" but then point you towards private labels exclusive to total wine with much higher margins.

Staff gets paid commisions on private label items only.

Liquor barn has private label items with higher margins too.

total wine will expand into other big markets in KY.

My first and probably last trip to Total Wine was pretty disappointing. We were on our way to dinner at a friend's home. My wife waited in the car while I went in to look for a particular bottle that she had asked for. Of course, the place is huge. The only employee that I saw initially was busy checking out customers, with four or five in line. So I wandered around for a few minutes. Finally found another employee who, after a database search, told me they didn't carry what I was looking for. So I asked for a recommendation on a wine pairing for the entree that we knew was being served. The employee (some sort of manager, I think) couldn't come up with anything other than a generic "red...maybe a pinot?". So I left empty handed and frustrated.

I'll just stick with John Johnson at The Wine Rack in my Crescent Hill neighborhood. Sure, I'll pay a buck or two more a bottle, but he has a broad enough inventory for me and I get consistently on-point recommendations from him and his well-trained, knowledgeable staff. And in all the years I've been a customer, going back pretty much to the day he opened, I've never felt like I've been "upsold" (if that's a word) - more often than not, John and staff have suggested lower-priced alternatives to bottles that we have run across at restaurants and in other settings.

Steve P.-
Were you buying wine or spirits? I seldom find myself buying wine but I do buy spirits as well as other related stuff (like bitters). Do the spirits prices apply as well?

The Wine Rack. Old Towne. Top Hat. Support locally owned businesses, people!! Just like the above poster said, the employees at big box stores don't have a clue and are more worried about their bottom line.

The Wine Rack. Old Towne. Top Hat. Support locally owned businesses, people!! Just like the above poster said, the employees at big box stores don't have a clue and are more worried about their bottom line.

Another local shop we like dealing with is Westport Wine and Spirits, very helpful folks and a great selection.

[Robin Garr]

The Wine Rack. Old Towne. Top Hat. Support locally owned businesses, people!!

This. Also Wine Market, Westport, Prospect, Gemelli. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch, local wine shops run by local people who know and love the subject.

Please please, before anyone starts finger pointing know that out here where Steve and I live the only independent liquor stores are converted gas stations that carry pints and MD 20/20. Wine Rack, Old Towne , Top Hat are all wonderful stores but they are also 30-45 minute drive. The Paddocks is only 15-20 minutes. When I want something special I DO go to Westport Wine and Spirits.

Benchmark #8 is $7.99 at Total Wine vs. $8.99-10.99 at other places.

Please please, before anyone starts finger pointing know that out here where Steve and I live the only independent liquor stores are converted gas stations that carry pints and MD 20/20. Wine Rack, Old Towne , Top Hat are all wonderful stores but they are also 30-45 minute drive. The Paddocks is only 15-20 minutes. When I want something special I DO go to Westport Wine and Spirits.

Fair point. I stay away from the Wal-Wine places, but I'm fortunate to have several local shops in walking distance. I refused to go to the Liquor Barn in St. Mats, not for that reason, but because it was such a hideous eyesore in the neighborhood of my youth. I'm glad it was torn down.

[Robin Garr]

Please please, before anyone starts finger pointing know that out here where Steve and I live the only independent liquor stores are converted gas stations that carry pints and MD 20/20.

Yeah, I hear that. I have the good fortune to live a four-minute walk from Wine Rack and a five-minute drive from Old Town and The Wine Market in one direction, Gemelli and Top Hat in the other.

Thinking out loud, though, isn't the wine shop associated with Brix Wine Bar fairly close to you guys? I've only glanced at it when I went to the restaurant, but given the wine-bar connection, I'd think it would be well above MD 20/20 level.

I LOVE our new LB here on Outer Loop. I live too far away to go to TW but if they expand I will certainly check them out. I'm a bourbon lover and my wife is a wine lover so we give them quite a bit of business. Clean store, nice helpful people. Mom lives close to the TW so I will stop in there when I visit. Good to have great new stores around town.

Thinking out loud, though, isn't the wine shop associated with Brix Wine Bar fairly close to you guys? I've only glanced at it when I went to the restaurant, but given the wine-bar connection, I'd think it would be well above MD 20/20 level.

It's a bit closer but I'm still a bit further out and Steve is even further I believe. There is a small liquor store there as well (real nice people) but spirit selections - unless you're buying bourbon- is limited to the pedestrian stuff and prices reflect the scarcity of decent stores. So, a 25% drop in prices on an already $20-25 bottle of spirits , coupled with a better selection is notable.

<shrugs>...I dunno - I guess maybe I've never needed someone to "pair" a wine for me...And to be honest I really can't lay claim to any burning desire to stand around a liquor store "talking wine" with some self-proclaimed expert (Bourbon on the other hand)

So let me just say again - On the stuff WE buy Total Wine is -much- less expensive (not to mention a -heck- of a lot closer to home). Your mileage may vary.

One of the guys at Costco told me that they had to lower their prices to stay competitive with Total Wine.

I like the folks over at Prospect Party Center so I usually go there.