Total Wine & More

Retail Services & Systems, Inc.
Private
Industry Retail
Founded 1991 (1991) (as Liquor World)
Claymont, Delaware, U.S.
Founders David Trone
Robert Trone
Headquarters North Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. (Bethesda mailing address)
Number of locations
 176 stores (2018)
Key people
 Former CEO Kevin Peters (2015–2016)
Products Wine, spirits, beer, cigars, gifts, accessories
Number of employees
 5,000+ (estimated)
Website www.totalwine.com

Total Wine & More is a family-owned, privately held American alcohol retailer founded and led by brothers David and Robert Trone.[1] Total Wine & More is the largest U.S. independent retailer of fine wine. Total Wine & More was named Retailer of the Year by Market Watch in 2006, Beverage Dynamics in 2008, and Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2004 and 2014.[2] The company is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland.[3]

History

In 1985, Trone and family members opened stores in the Pittsburgh area known as Beer and Pop Warehouse and later Beer World, though legal experiences in Pennsylvania led them to leave the state.[4]

In 1991 brothers David and Robert Trone founded Liquor World as a small, independent store (2,500 sq. ft.) in Claymont, Delaware, which was followed with a second store in Milltown, Delaware. Liquor World grew steadily through the 1990s, expanding state by state down the east coast. The Trones acquired D.C.-area chain Total Beverage in 1998, adopting and modifying that company's moniker for their business.[5][6]

Total Wine entered Florida in 2005, and then California and Arizona in 2007. As they expanded, the Trones brought in executives from other retailers such as BJ's, Zales, Bloomingdales, Toys R Us, The Home Depot, and Office Depot.

In 2016, Total Wine was served with several-day license suspensions by the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for selling liquor below its costs, a loss leader pricing strategy not allowed within the state's liquor industry. Total Wine sued the state's regulators to overturn the suspensions, and won based on the final cost of the liquor being less than that shown on the initial invoices.[7][8][9]

As of August 2018, Total Wine & More has 176 superstores in 20 states:[10] Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. It conducts online sales in 14 states that allow online alcohol sales.

Business operations

Owned and operated by Retail Services and Systems,[11][12] Total Wine & More offers a large selection of products and advertises them as competitive in price. Each Total Wine store carries approximately 8,000 different types of wines from wine-producing regions around the world, 3,000 types of spirits (where permitted by law), and about 2,500 beers. Each store also carries accessories, gifts, and cigars.

Total Wine & More has about 5,000 employees, including 500 employees at their corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and 800 wine specialists who must demonstrate wine knowledge before they are invited to join the company. All wine department employees must undergo an initial 150-hour training program, participate in weekly team wine tastings, and attend monthly wine producer seminars. Some employees travel to wine-growing regions such as Napa Valley, California and the French regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne on company-sponsored educational trips.[10]

Each Total Wine & More store is 20,000–50,000 square feet (1,900–4,600 m2) in size. Total Wine & More also provides in-house publications to their customers, including Total Wine & More's Guide to Wine, the Total Wine & More Total Guide to Beer, Guide to Spirits, a quarterly Buying Guide which lists brands and prices, and a quarterly newsletter (The Wine Advisor).

The company's 2014 revenue was estimated to be more than $1.5 billion.[13] Co-owner David Trone said that year that the company planned to be at $2 billion in revenues in 2015, and $3 billion in 2019.[14]

Corporate philanthropy

Since its founding, Total Wine & More has given millions of dollars in financial and in-kind donations to a range of nonprofits. In 2015, Total Wine donated more than $6 million to 7,000+ local charities in 18 states.[15] In 2014, Total Wine & More received the prestigious 2014 Market Watch Award for Community Service from Market Watch, the nation's leading beverage alcohol industry publication.[16] Wine Spectator editor Marvin Shanken said, "The level of time, energy and financial resources that David and Robert Trone have devoted to community service is truly remarkable."[17]

Customer education

Total Wine & More offers a variety of opportunities for their customers to learn more about the wines, beer and spirits that are sold in their stores. Each store hosts weekly tastings, special events and classes where customers can learn from experts, winemakers, brew masters and industry professionals (as allowed by different state laws).[18] Total Wine pioneered the live virtual tasting, where well-known winemakers host a tasting from their vinyard, which is streamed live in Total Wine's classrooms.[19]

Education Centers are also made available for use in every local community. Total Wine & More offers free meeting space for local businesses, clubs, and organizations. Located in over 60 Total Wine stores, each Center is a private room equipped for meeting hosting, and the stores also provide a complimentary 30-minute wine tasting for all attendees (as allowed by different state laws).[20]

Adam Strum, chairman of Wine Enthusiast, said of Total Wine: "They're very focused on educating the consumer...they really invest a lot of time in their employees, their training. That's one of the reasons they have been so fabulously successful."[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Our Leadership". Total Wine & More. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ Morris, Asia (June 4, 2015). "Family-Owned Retail Giant Total Wine & More Opens First Long Beach Location". Long Beach Post. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  3. ↑ Metcalf, Andrew (September 16, 2015). "Total Wine & More Dedicates New Bethesda Headquarters". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ Peck, Louis (February 22, 2016). "David Trone's Path to Business Success Included Three Arrests Involving Disputes with State Authorities". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  5. ↑ "The brothers behind Washington's booze". Washington Business Journal. December 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. ↑ Wheaton, Kathleen (November 2015). "The Givers". Bethesda Magazine. gradually grew their company, then called Liquor World, through the 1990s.... In 1998, they acquired the D.C.-area chain Total Beverage and renamed the company Total Wine & More.
  7. ↑ Adams, Dan (May 20, 2017). "For Total Wine, it's total war against alcohol regulations". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Daily News Update: From Boston Globe" (PDF). NABCA. National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. May 23, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  9. ↑ Adams, Dan (July 26, 2017). "Total Wine wins challenge on discount pricing". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Our Company". Total Wine & More. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Terms & Conditions". Total Wine & More. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Company Profile". D&B Hoovers. Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  13. ↑ Vomhof Jr., John (March 5, 2014). "2 big-box liquor-store chains may make stir in Washington". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Interview, Part 1: Total Wine Aims For $3B In Sales Within Five Years". Shanken News Daily. M. Shanken Communications, Inc. April 22, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Corporate Philanthropy". Total Wine & More.
  16. ↑ Frager, Ray (September 30, 2014). "Total Wine wins community service award". Maryland Daily Record. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Total Wine & More Receives Prestigious 2014 Market Watch Award for Community Service" (Press release). Potomac, Maryland: Total Wine & More. PR Newswire. September 29, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Social Responsibility". Total Wine & More. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Interview, Part 2: Total Wine & More's David Trone". Shanken News Daily. M. Shanken Communications, Inc. April 23, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Book Our Room". Total Wine & More. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  21. ↑ Cooper, Rebecca (December 5, 2014). "The Brothers Behind Washington's Booze". Washington Business Journal. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015.
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