Spectrum’s auction platform is nearly unusable. They probably lose tons of potential revenue due to poor discoverability and navigability. I haven’t bought from winex much, but their site is at least serviceable (minus all the “somebody also bought” popups).
Moving the retail location to a smaller, less desirable facility seems also to be a sign of the times, perhaps less dependence on physical sales and a pivot towards more online sales.
I always felt both sites were difficult to use, and thus didn’t look at them much. Maybe in 2005 this would have been sort of ‘ok’, but in 2025 this seems crazy, when there are so many off the shelf solutions potentially available.
Every time I’ve been in WineX, there have been a handful of shoppers but it is definitely a destination stop - no one will simply ‘stumble by’ here. So moving to another industrial area won’t hurt them in that respect.
My guess is that Spectrum will revamp their retail space a bit - and capitalize on Kyle and Tristan’s social media and online relationships, as well as their international relationships.
Hoping it’s a win win
The shop is right off the 55 freeway with probably a million eyeballs going by daily. Moving away from that location is less than ideal just because of visibility loss.
I’m hoping that as well. Though I don’t immediately see where/how they could enlarge the small retail space at Spectrum.
Frankly, WineX could have used better and friendlier customer service, I hope they consider addressing that as part of the rebranding and move.
Do we know for sure that they’re closing the Orange location?
I doubt that many folks speeding by at 70 mph noticed their sign. I feel that most people who are in there are familiar with them already. Just my two cents.
Cheers
We do not, but the press release does state that they are consolidating things and moving the retail operation to Santa Ana. To me, that implies that they will not be keeping the other location open.
One bit of intel is that they are planning to expand the retail floor into what is currently the large receptionist area at Spectrum (for those of you who have been there).
The retail floor would still be quite small overall even with that addition, but it is at least a significant addition.
I don’t know if they are expanding in any other way. There is an employee break room and some storage nooks on the ground floor, those could probably be redeployed to be more retail area too.
While I think most people who went to Wine Exchange sought it out, there had to be some value having a big sign and banners right on one of the most trafficked stretches of freeway in Southern Cal.
Maybe they go back the bestwinesonline.com 
My bestfriend lived at Main and McArthur for close to 20 years. We used to ride bikes over there from his place. And Han’s late night 
Love that place
I’ve been to both locations and you can’t just accidentally visit one of the retail stores (even with the increased visibility of Wine Exchange on the 55). It’s a bunch of warehouses in that part of OC.
Wine Exchange has an okay website and their customer service was fine (nothing special).
Spectrum Wine has a surprisingly small retail space and I actually like their Auctions. Doesn’t have the best visibility, but it’s usable with their app.
Sad to say, I spent much of my adult life reading them. 
But the trick of a great press release is not to exaggerate so much that it’s silly.
It may be a big deal in SoCal, but for those of us elsewhere, it’s
I think that was true about 30 years ago. Back in the handwritten pamphlet days, Wine Exchange was my source for incredible Languedocs from Peyre Rose and L’Aiguliere and grower Champagnes like Tarlant and Egly-Ouriet.
I actually didn’t know they had an app, I was struggling trying to use their web interface. I’ll have to check that out.
If I didn’t make it clear enough, the app is only for Auctions. But yes, you’re right about their awful web interface.
Perhaps unrelated, but shipping charges for Spectrum Auctions jumped the shark about a month ago.
As did minimum prices a year or two ago. Out here we have the advantage of local pick ups and used to buy a lot of the single bottles of older wines that other people wouldn’t bid on because they weren’t worth shipping. But that went away with the minimum prices
How much did they go up? Ive been paying just under $50 for a while
$120+ for shipping a case to Charlotte, NC from an auction 3 weeks ago.
And last week $110+ for 2 bottles and a magnum.
Not sure if this is an option for you, but they offer consolidated shipping to certain storage facilities. I’ve been paying $20/case to ship to Uovo Napa