Just in time to cash in on the holidays, this BevMo opened in Glendale. For years there was one BevMo in Pasadena, but they've recently been reproducing at a curious clip.BevMo is a comprehensive beverage-and-more store, your one stop social gathering destination. Half the store is wine, the other half spirits, both sides interspersed with other necessary party needs: snacks, cheese, glass ware, cigars, caviar, beer-water-soda and mixers. They are notable for the 5-cent sale where, if you're a BevMo
member, you buy one bottle and get the second one for...5 cents. Here's an interesting bit of info on that one.So why the sudden proliferation of BevMos? Total Wine...& More. Started in Delaware, now in ten states, including a recent handful in California (the nearest here is, I think, Northridge?), they are on the move and BevMo is scrambling to get into our massive-sized wine store psyches first.
How will this play out for the traditional wine store? I went to BevMo when it first opened. It was a mess, and the kids working there seemed ill-equipped to answer a single wine question. I went back this week to see how they've settled in, and the store remains disheveled and unappealing...to me...and the wine unremarkable.
For a better quality wine experience, try these local stores:
Topline Wine. (and spirits)
Rosso Wine Shop
Mission Wine and Spirits
Whole Foods (the beer department is making quite a name for itself)
55 Degree Wine (and beer)
Red Carpet Wine (beer and spirits)
How can you go wrong with a whole section devoted to boxed wine?
Just in time for Valentine's day...looks like that ChocoVine is flying off the shelves.