Are you suggesting Olema is some sort of Total Wine Exclusive?
Winery direct. All these wines are available at any shop in town that wants to offer them.
We don’t have Total Wine in Oklahoma (liquor stores licenses are limited to one per person so chains won’t locat here) so I don’t fully understand what Winery Direct means for Total Wine and their customers. But, Olema is widely available here and I recall it being in the mid-20’s. A quick web search shows that’s about the national average.
Sounds to me like you have a local retailer that either likes loss leaders or is willing to make their money in volume.
Some states have a minimum markup on booze to avoid situations like this. No idea if MN does, but I know OK does.
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They are doing it in volumes. We have a store called Morell’s moving tons of product. They sell wines with thin margins. I would guess your prices on my photo are much more than you pay in Oklahoma.
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Bought a case and love that Total Wine price matches on adds. The tag was still on the side of the case. $19.99 for Roederer not bad but their math is not quite adding up.
This is the “Vineyard Direct” at Binny’s in Illinois which is the biggest alcohol retailer in Illinois:
Most are private label (Clark & Sheffield, a nod to the Cubs) and a few are available nationwide. I would guess maybe they have the exclusive for the territory/state on the latter.
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Kris is not saying a 30% margin on wine. Kris is saying TW makes about 30% of total $$ profit on their wine category. That accounts for volume, mix and profit margin.
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Kris
What are PL spirits? Not familiar with those except for Kirkland
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Most of these, presumably, as one set of examples:
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Suspicion is those wines are being sold at little to no profit. They may even be loss leaders. It’s obviously an attempt to target TW customers. It may be effective and I’m sure that same store is selling other wines at higher profits. It seems like a reasonable strategy to pursue. It’s a free world
As for the prices they list for TW almost no one pays those prices. Nearly every customer is using coupons and or mix 6 discounts for prices 10-20% below those listed prices
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So i just checked my TW app for current deals.
20% off 9 or more WD bottles
15% off Chardonnay or French WD wines
Free delivery on order of $25 or more
Bottle of Olema Rose for a penny but as John says there has to be some margin
Like I said basically no one is paying those advertised prices which makes John’s favorite retailer guilty of deceptive advertising
Thanks Dave. Looks like a lot of made up brands with some Redemption and Bib & Tucker to keep it honest
Not deceptive David. Everyone puts a bunch of pomp and circumstance in their ads. It’s up to the consumer to weed out the reality. That’s what makes marketing so much fun!
Re: Saranty, I had come to the same conclusion, but the snooped around the local TW store and at my bordeaux EP purchased from them; much, maybe most of their classified growth bordeaux is Saranty imports. Beyond that, certainly not a stamp of quality.
I’ve lost the plot about what the argument is?
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Fair enough. If you know the producer, and enjoy them, then I agree you can ignore which importer is bringing them in. Absent that, at TW, caveat emptor. Unless you are David B, who loves everything about TW… 
Michael
The title is a catch all. What triggers you at TW? Obviously N/A in OK.
So what you’re saying is that different stores sell wines at different prices? Any search of any single wine on Wine Searcher would show the same thing that prices are all over the place.
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I love that i now have one a mile from my house as a playground. It’s far from the greatest but it’s nice to have nearby and serves me a bunch of purposes. I just don’t get the vitriol. It’s a liquor store
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