In the 1980s, in the SF Bay Area, I HAUNTED Liquor Barn…The Walnut Creek store, I remember, used to put on awesome, thematic tastings…1982 Bordeaux, etc.
Who could forget the black, fenced-off ‘reserve’ wines…like a 3.0 liter 1978 Mondavi Reserve cab?
(As an interesting footnote, as much as I loved Liquor Barn, it was MY FATHER, as CFO of Safeway at the time, who sold it off as a corporate restructuring. Steve Boone, who ran LB for Safeway, later started BevMo…but alas, BevMo was NEVER a Liquor Barn.)
I have fond memories of Liquor Barn from when we lived in Saratoga. Our local one was on Prospect Rd, between Lawrence Expwy and Saratoga Ave, in what I guess technically is San Jose. One tasting I recall was a Vintage Port and Chocolate tasting, where each of the tasters brought in something chocolaty (we brought a Chocolate Decadence made following Narsai’s recipe) to accompany maybe 6 or 8 different ports. I’ve long forgotten exactly what we tasted, although one port was from the late 1800s and I was surprised at its pale orangish-yellow color. I’d never seen that in a port before, although I’d never tasted one that old before either.
I still have a “souvenir” from Liquor Barn, having purchased some of the racks from the Mountain View store when they were closing.
I also shopped at the Walnut Creek store, buying 1982 Grand Puy Lacoste and Lynch Bages for $16.99/bottle, IIRC, and 1983 Palmer for $24.99. There was another store in Albany, I think, where I bought 1983 Mouton Rothschild for $38.99.
Yep, and Alamo Wine and Spirits, when Stephen Eliot of Connoisseur’s Guide worked there, circa 1980. Joel Butler worked at the Jackson’s in Berkeley near The Claremont Hotel at that same time.
when I was in my teens (yes, teens) I developed a keen interest in beers, and started a beer bottle collection (empties). I remember fondly, my Dad would take me to Liquor Barn in Alameda on the weekend so I could pick out a selection for my budding collection. Dad had his flaws, but he was super cool sometimes
We bought our first house in San Carlos and used to go to the Liquor Barn in Redwood City, on El Camino. Having Liquor Barn, K&L and Beltramo’s within 20 minutes of our house was great. And expensive!
Barry Sunderland wrote:
My Saturday tastings were K&L…then Beltramos…lastly Vin, Vino, Wine…$$$ and much spitting.
Barry, that brings back some good memories for me. I had my first taste of D’Yquem at a tasting of 1994 Bordeaux at Beltramos. They were pouring the 1990 D’Yquem for $25 and my wife thought I was insane for paying that much for a small pour of it. And it was awesome.
LB on Indian School and 36th in Phoenix. They had several others in town. For those of you that follow Unti Vineyards in DCV, Mick and his father were with Safeway in that era, but I don’t think either ever worked for LB. I still have a few 83 Bordeaux I bought at LB.
I have VERY fond memories of LB – particularly of the time they priced the Guigal B&B Cote Roties at the Cotes du Rhone price. Only sorry I only snagged a half case.
As I recall, the chain lost money for Safeway. They tended to be located in old Safeway sites that were too small for a viable supermarket but were too big for a liquor store. I suspect LB’s sales per square foot were dismal.
I remember it was sold to one of the British liquor chains. Majestic? In any event, the new company was in bankruptcy in 12 or 18 months.
I believe the Bon Appetite store in Tiburon in the early 80’s may have been a precursor for a higher end concept store for Safeway and had an upscale wine department. I remember the 3.0L 1976 Caymus Special.
I got to know the guy who ran it and had him join our wine pros only tasting group. We were all single guys, so every Wednesday night, double blind.
That store eventually closed and Liquor Barn rose. The money in Tiburon and Belvedere fueled its success. IIRC.
A brief history of Liquor Barn. The chain was originally started by Safeway around 1980 when the California fair trade law was repealed and allowed grocery stores to sell liquor along with wine and beer and eliminate the floor (minimum price) that alcohol could be sold for (but not under cost). Safeway turned some of the leases that they held into straight liquor store(s) called ALPS (All Liquor Prices Slashed). They soon changed the name to Liquor Barn and grew the chain quite a bit. The decline started when KKR staged a hostile takeover of Safeway and they were forced to take the company private. To do so Safeway had to sell off much of their assets. Liquor barn was bought by Majestic of the UK who ran the company into bankruptcy. Subsequent owners tried to revive the company but were unsuccessful.
I was in Boulder a couple of years ago, where I went to school, and the Liquor Barn where we used to buy kegs for fraternity parties in the late 1960s is still there.
I was told the wine buyer went to Costco when Liquor Barn was sold.
Speaking of Jackson’s in Berkeley, a guy named Chris used to conduct terrific monthly blind tastings in the early 1980s we attended there when we lived in Claremont Canyon.
KKR didn’t make a hostile takeover bid. KKR was the white knight that allied with Peter Magowan, the CEO, in the 1986 take-private (LBO) after the Haft brothers launched a hostile bid.
As a customer, I loved Safeway, but the company had been very poorly run under two generations of Magowans. Its labor costs were a third higher than its competitors and its profits margins were lower (in a low margin business). It was losing money in a number of regions where it had small market shares, though it didn’t even have the internal controls to realize that.
And Liquor Barn was not doing well. Safeway opened lots of LB stores, but that doesn’t equate to profitability.
KKR sold off some profitable divisions, like Safeway UK and Safeway Canada to reduce debt, and other assets that weren’t generating a good return on capital, like LB, to reduce debt from the buyout.
(I researched this in some depth for a book on private equity ten years ago.)
It seems that a San Diego company, Triton, bought Liquor Barn out of bankruptcy in 1989, saying it would continue to operate the 68 remaining stores. But I don’t think it lasted long in that form. Anyone remember what happened next? Did BevMo buy it or some stores?
I shopped at a Liquor Barn in the San Jose area back in the early '90s. Mostly big brand stuff at that point, and decent wine buys but I remember finding the Wine Club when I moved to LA and their pricing and selection blew the Liquor Barn away.
Funny thing - I was driving through Redding, CA, a few weeks back and visible from I-5 is a location of Liquor Barn. The logo even looked right but maybe I don’t remember it correctly. I presume it’s a totally different thing but funny to see the old name as I passed by.
