Monday, August 15, 2022

Days of wine and closures

Updated 8/17: A new report suggests TJ's shut the store after learning employees wanted to unionize.

On Friday, workers removed the Wine Shop letters from the now-closed Trader Joe's Wine Shop on 14th Street near Irving Place...
As previously reported, the company abruptly shut the doors to the only Trader Joe's Wine Shop in New York State this past Thursday after 15 years in the retail space of NYU's Palladium Hall ... surprising patrons and staff in the process. 

The closure prompted a surprising amount of nostalgia for the shop, many related to buying bottles of Two Buck Chuck ... to spurring some existential crises, as one Twitter user asked, likely rhetorically: "Why God, why????"

It sounds like a Trader Joe's Wine Shop will return someday and somewhere. The signage on the door mentioned that. And in an email to staff, management stated (in part):

It is now time for us to explore another location that will allow us to optimize the potential of our one and only license to sell wine in the state of New York. In addition, the space currently used for the wine shop will be used to improve the overall operations of store 540, our grocery store in Union Square. 

Read the letter sent to employees at 12:01 a.m. here

A few readers got a jump on suggesting new locations for the shop, such as at the Trader's Joe's on 14th Street near Avenue A... 
... which won't work. For starters, it's not really centrally located... and, importantly. there isn't any available retail space in the building.

For people who shopped at Trader Joe's Wine Shop, there were also discussions about wine-store alternatives in the neighborhood. There are several solid choices around here... which will be for a good future post. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where would we get Menage-A-Trois now?

Anonymous said...

Let me begin the list . . . The Wine Warehouse, Astor Wines -- two long- and outstanding stalwarts, and, of course, our beloved Brix.

Anonymous said...

My guess is that they can’t remain selling wine for that cheap. It is easier for them to close up shop for a few years and let inflation take it’s toll. Then resurface with higher prices. Say hello to the 6-buck-chuck.

Anonymous said...

All of the people who worked there were so friendly and helpful, seemed good at their jobs. I hope they have an easy time finding a new gig.

Anonymous said...

They already increased the prices to I believe $4.99 last I saw.

Anonymous said...

Good headline

Anonymous said...

It has nothing to do with inflation. It has to do with location. No one gives up a liquor store license for few years.

Anonymous said...

This article seems to blame plans to unionized for the shut down.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trader-joes-wine-shop-closed-union_n_62fd72cce4b071ea958c5b35

dja said...

Sad to this store go. The staff was knowledgeable, helpful and friendly and they always had great options at many price points. You could "splurge" on a $10-12 bottle here and find many really nice options , whereas most wine stores might have 1 or 2 decent bottles in that price range if you're lucky.

As for other options, I second the Astor Wines mention and will add Convive on Avenue A near 12th. The staff is superb; very knowledgeable but they don't make you feel like you're asking dumb questions. The selection is a bit pricier than TJ's but still offers many great values under $15 and under $20, especially considering the quality of the wines.