A few months ago we checked out WineNation in Norwalk. We were impressed with the variety of wine and beer that they had available. Most notably awesome was the ability to pick and choose your own six packs. The thing that alarmed us, though, was how there were so many empty shelves that were not filled. We were told that the shelves would quickly fill in as they got more inventory, but we had a few comments on our post that mentioned how the inventory kept getting smaller and smaller.
Kristien and I often wondered how they could survive in such a big store with such a small inventory. Unfortunately, we got word from them today they closed their doors (their MA location is still open) on September 30, 2012. If there is any kind of silver lining in this announcement, it is that they sold the store to Total Wine and More. Total Wine and More is a superstore that is in 12 states now, but by late November that will be 13 when they open shop in Norwalk. They boast a great selection of beer , wine, and spirits, so that’s something to get very excited about. In addition, they have regular events and educational classes at their stores, so we can look forward to that. Here’s to much success and many great cheers.
OmNomCT 
Total Wine and More is awesome!!! My BF and I went to a location of their’s near my family in Florida. Wow! What a store! We were hoping one would open in CT.
We will totally head over to Stamford Wine and Liquor as well! Props to the Mom and Pop stores! Where would America be without them. :)
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I went there a few times while en route to Stamford, and while I liked the endless selection, I wondered how they could possibly cover the overhead of that much square footage?
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It’s just sooooooo much room. You can definitely fill up the room…Bev Max, for example, is HUGE. But, they are constantly doing business. I just guess they weren’t doing that kind of business, though.
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Totally saw that coming. From what I understand they owe millions in MA, and this location never really had a chance. Don’t know what people are thinking sometimes opening a business like this. My local place of choice (World of Beverages just down Rte. 7) predicted this to me, and they were right. I went there once, and tried to return some empties, the cashier (and the manager) took 15 minutes to figure out how to process the return stub from the machine. Another point of difference, @ WOB you just give them the empties & they give you a receipt for the cashier when you check out. No GD machine like you’re in a supermarket. It’s like the big box store revolution that killed local businesses, screw ’em, they’ve wrecked local business!
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We seriously have to check out WOB. We’ve heard other people talk about it, too. Where we live, there are lots of little shops that have some interesting things here and there, but we tend to rely on the bigger places for more variety such as Fairway or Bev Max. If we had a place like WOB or Harry’s that was closer, we’d hit those up all the time. Maybe we need to do some exploring. :)
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Then you should try Stamford Wine and Liquor. They are family owned for over 40 yrs. It has a lot of small botique wines at great prices. The owner is very knowledgeable. Just tell him his wife sent you.
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Hi Kim. :) We had no idea we had famous people reading our blog, wow. :) We’ll definitely check out Stamford Wine and Liquor, yes. :) You’re actually pretty close to us, so we’ll stop by. Thanks for the recco. :) We’ll tell your husband that you sent us, sure. :P
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