Wine shop hosts ‘going out of business sale‘ and ‘auction‘
WineStyles at Perimeter Place will close April 15, according to a newsletter sent Friday from the wine retailer.
The retailer at 4511 Olde Perimeter Way did not comment on reasons for the store’s closure, but the newsletter said it was a business decision.
“This was not an easy decision but was the correct one to make in the current circumstance we are in,” according to the newsletter.
WineStyles’ “going out of business sale” started Monday and will continue through April 15 from noon until 8 p.m. All merchandise will be on sale, according to the newsletter.
Bottles of wine will be ten percent off, half cases (six bottles) will be 15 percent off and full cases will be 20 percent off.
On April 23, WineStyles will hold an auction for store fixtures, wine alcoves, tables, chairs, etc., beginning at 11 a.m.
(H/T to Heather Honerkamp for contributing to this report)
WineStyles
4511 Olde Perimeter Way #300
Dunwoody, GA 30076
3 Responses
This just happened last month to the one in Cobb. Were they the same owners?
We were wine club members and regular Saturday visitors almost since they first opened. The staff was great, and we enjoyed stopping in for a tasting and a chat. Steve (the second and current franchise owner) has done the best he could with the store against new waves of competition and within the limitations of the store.
That being said, I’m not sure what I think of WineStyles as a business concept. Admittedly, opening a wine store requires some special knowledge of the alcohol wholesale industry and licensing, but other than that.. when you buy a franchise, a big part of what you get is marketing and brand name recognition (think McDonalds, Subway, etc). WineStyles has no brand recognition, and I never saw any attempt to market from the national chain.
Their location turned out to be a bust once Total Wine opened across the street. I think many of their customers probably tasted wines at WineStyles and then headed across the street to Total Wine to get the wines they liked at a discount. The Perimeter storefront was also handicapped compared to other locations (like Marietta and Snellville) where there was a larger seating area and outdoor patio for tastings that would invite people to stay a while and have a glass or two of wine with friends.
Finally, I think the concept might have run its course. WineStyles has a limited wine selection, and balances out the rest of its inventory with wine-related tchotchkes like bedazzled-wine-theme shirts, “whimsical” themed metal wine bottle holders, etc, etc. I’m sure the markups were high on those items and helped their bottom line, but I never saw much movement when I was in the store. IMHO the store should have been more “wine” and less “style”.
In short, I think if WineStyles was more like D’Vine and less like a “wine lifestyle boutique” it could have done well against the likes of Total Wine and other competition. For me, if I was going to open a wine store (and I’ve thought about it before), I’d avoid having to pay WineStyles for a franchise.