Grape Culture Wine and Spirits
Grape Culture Wine and Spirits, a liquor store located in 248 Lake Ave. in St. James, New York, is celebrating its Five Year Anniversary with a special “Super Sundays” promotion. All regularly-priced wines will be discounted 15% on Sundays in November 2009.
While many liquor store owners haven’t taken advantage of the relatively new legislation allowing them to conduct business on Sundays, Grape Culture Wine and Spirits owner Scott Chemick is happy to mark his store’s Five Year Anniversary – not only by being open for business on Sundays, but by giving discounts of 15% on wines every Sunday in November.
“Being open on Sundays means we’re available when our customers need us,” Chemick says. “And what better way is there to thank our customers for the last five years than by offering a discount on a Sunday – a day we weren’t even allowed to be open until just a short while ago?”
The promotion is typical of Chemick’s unconventional approach to his business -- and his interest in democratizing wine.
“We are very different from other liquor stores in that we are doing the exact opposite of what the industry wants us to do,” he says. “The industry wants us to carry large inventories of certain products, and many of these are very much run-of-the-mill brands. Staple items are certainly represented, but by keeping these inventories low, we thrive on offering customers a far wider selection of out-of-the-ordinary brands than most smaller liquor stores are able to.” The “far wider selection” includes a section of the store devoted to Long Island wines from producers like Pugliese, Pindar, Peconic Bay, and Duck Walk. Grape Culture also stocks LiV, the Long Island potato vodka, and wooden bins in the center of the store overflow with high-value but lower-priced wines that are automatically discounted.
On Grape Culture’s shelves, wine is categorized by varietal rather than region, breaking a long-standing industry tradition; in-store tastings, on Fridays and Saturdays -- sometimes featuring live sets by local singer/guitarist Michael Korb -- are relaxed and friendly, encouraging less-experienced wine drinkers to explore; outside, in front of the store, there’s a weekly wine quote on a chalkboard that’s become a source of amusement for customers.
And wine can now be purchased on the store’s website, www.grapeculture.com
Chemick says, “I believe in the coming years we will see a tremendous amount of high quality wines coming down in price, leading to some of the best values in wine -- and we will, as always, be searching out great deals for our customers.”
Grape Culture Sunday hours are 12pm to 6pm.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
