Wine Stores With Shtick: The Greene Grape
In the Wall Street Journal’s Tastings column, they’re talking about wine shops “with all sorts of new ideas to make the wine-buying experience more fun and less intimidating.” One of the shops mentioned is Fort Greene’s own Green Grape: “At the Greene Grape in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the stores’ computers keep a record of every…
In the Wall Street Journal’s Tastings column, they’re talking about wine shops “with all sorts of new ideas to make the wine-buying experience more fun and less intimidating.” One of the shops mentioned is Fort Greene’s own Green Grape:
“At the Greene Grape in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the stores’ computers keep a record of every wine you buy. Yes, this sure seems simple in this day and age. We wonder why it took so long. Amy Bennett, the owner in Brooklyn, says the computer file was inspired by her tech-savvy partner and by her experience being in a large store next to a woman who approached a clerk and asked, ‘I had this great Spanish red. Do you remember which one it was?'”
This is a great idea to help newbie wine enthusiasts remember specific bottles — but for a local shop, a computer isn’t always necessary to remember customers’ preferences. Once we became regulars at our favorite neighborhood wine store, Scotto’s at 318 Court Street, the owner would always recognize us, ask us what we thought about our last bottle, and recommend another accordingly.
Wine’s New Wave — Stores With Shtick [WSJ]
The Greene Grape [Homepage]
Scotto’s [Homepage]
Yeah, and? Red, White and Bubbly in Park Slope has been doing this since they opened about six years ago. It’s helped me when I couldn’t remember the great $9 Spanish red the owner recommended that tasted like an $18 wine and I swore that I’d remember, but forgot.
the greene grape is toy!!!!!
Boycott Sal’s & boycott the greene grape!
what happens when Homeland Security busts down the door and demands Greene Grape disclose your wine purchase history?!
The system is also used as a way to count up to periodic rebates. After spending $X, you get 10% back.
I will tell you exactly why this is a great idea. I am not a wine guy, but my wife is. We live right around the corner from the Greene Grape, and I decided to stock the little wine refrig we have for a holiday gift. Went to the store, told the staff there to put together $XX amount of wine my wife bought in the past, and they delivered it the next day. Easiest and most effective gift I ever bought her.