Wine Enthusiast, the magazine and DTC merchant dedicated to wine expertise, has opened its first store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood featuring a wide range of wine lifestyle products, from wine refrigerators and furniture to corkscrews and glassware.
Since 1979, Wine Enthusiast has shaped how Americans discover, understand and enjoy wine through product innovation, customized cellar designs, wine and spirit ratings and editorial content. The next step is establishing a physical retail destination, which “reflects a strategic investment in long-term growth and an understanding of how consumers often prefer to engage with high-consideration purchases,” explained the company.
Amid Declining Sales, Wine Enthusiast Hopes to Help Consumers Rethink How They Experience Wine
In announcing the new store, the company acknowledged current shifts in demand and consumer preferences, with wine sales declining in the U.S. for the past several years. With its shop, Wine Enthusiast hopes to “rethink how people experience wine at home and how retail can support that evolution.”
“This store represents the next chapter of Wine Enthusiast,” said Erika Strum Silberstein, President of Wine Enthusiast Commerce in a statement. “Our customers rely on us for guidance, and having a physical location offers consumers a consultative, tactile experience to complement the online shopping experience.”
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Designed as a combined retail space, showroom and brand home, the 1,465-square-foot store features a modern interior conceived by Wine Enthusiast‘s design team and realized in partnership with Leap Commerce. Warm wood tones, terracotta archways, and soft lighting create a welcoming backdrop for an assortment of wine cellars, wine furniture and wine accessories that include Wine Enthusiast’s own Vinoview and Somm collections, Zalto glassware, EuroCave cellars, decanters, preservation tools and entertaining home goods.
“Our goal was to create an environment where anyone, from new wine drinkers to serious collectors, feels comfortable asking questions, learning and exploring what the wine lifestyle can look like for them,” Strum added. “At the same time, it’s a place where our industry partners can introduce products, host activations and engage a highly informed audience in a meaningful way. It’s a win for consumers and for the wine industry.”
