It's never been easy to sell wine at retail, regardless of the economy, and now two of Belltown's fine wine shops--the only two, really--are going out of business. The Local Vine, at the corner of 2nd and Vine in the McGuire Building, is being forced out because the entire 26-story structure will be dismantled over the next 12 months. They're moving to Capitol Hill, but the shop that's only a block away at 2nd and Wall, Seattle Cellars, is just going to close the doors.
According to owner Scott Haugh (right), who bought the store from Dave Woods three years ago, "With the downturn in the economy in general, and the lackluster business climate in Belltown in particular, the momentum is not sufficient to carry on." The impending dismantling of the McGuire, with the prospect of dumpsters, street closings, noise and dust doesn't make for retail optimism, either.
Still, it's not all that bleak for wine retailers like Richard Kinssies, whose Seattle Wine Outlet business model doesn't require stocking a wine variety of labels, just stacks of well-priced case lots (along with a wine school and a wine bar). Kinssies just opened a third outlet (in Greenwood) and has plans for a fourth. "It's better to expand during a downturn," he says, "so that you're ready to business when the economy recovers."
Seattle's leading independent wine retailer, Esquin Cellars, is similarly optimistic. Says manager Alisha Gosline, "It's a bummer when any wine retailer closes, since we're all on the same team." But Esquin is nimble enough to buy large quantities when wineries or distributors go out of business or sell closeout lots, and they also sell a lot of wine online.
Michael Teer at Pike & Western, in the Market, puts it best: "Belltown's just a tough neighborhood for any business these days."
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