Basic Buying
I had a chance to check out the Costco in Colorado Springs today, and it was a bit of a letdown: smaller than I’d expected, and with a pretty poor selection: a few bottles of decent US wines in the middle of the shop, and cheaper wines along the walls including litre bottles. There were loads of spirits and other drinks.
The number of staff (4) was surprising for this little shop which sat separate from the main Costco hangar. They claim to have the best prices for wine but my brother said that wasn’t so in many cases. I checked online but Costco’s website didn’t even mention wine.
ALDI opts for off-line
Earlier this year, ALDI in Australia announced that it was closing its online liquor business. I knew from Jason Bowyer who set the project up, that this was a first for ALDI in the world. It looks like these old grocers aren’t really comfortable outside their bricks-and-mortar supermarkets.
The first problem with that idea is that goes against the trend of increasing online shopping. The second problem is that ALDI’s range of wines differs from store to store, in line with its floor space. The third problem is that some ALDI stores don’t sell wine at all. All of this makes it hard to know in which ALDI shop you can find the wines I recommend from time to time.
The Bottom Line
I have long voiced serious reservations about guys like these guys selling fine wine, which is not a commodity that suits their discount barns. Happily, these grocers seem to be creating their own obstacles: ALDI going backwards, and Costco has not found the degree of popularity it expected down under. I’m not shedding any tears for either of them.