Saturday, October 17, 2009

BREAKING NEWS: Grape Vine Market's Austin location closing

I am despondent. I was just told by staff there that the Grape Vine Market location in Austin is closing. This makes me really sad; ever since I moved into the Crestview neighborhood, it has been one of my favorite places to buy alcohol. Great whiskey selection, tons of wine, amazing beer offerings, and very good customer service. I also have a Spec's equal distance from my house, which has really cheap prices (which I suspect is why Grape Vine is closing), but the selection just isn't quite as good as GVM, and the staff doesn't seem quite as knowledgeable.

The silver lining: The Austin location is having a liquidation sale beginning Monday, so this would be the time to go grab that really expensive Belgian ale or fancy bottle of scotch you've been wanting.

6 comments:

hiikeeba said...

Ssh! Keep it down. You don't want everyone to know, do ya?

Lee said...

They have a lot of inventory. I'm not too worried.

Fowl Birdwatcher said...

Wow. I guess Majestic wasn't doing a very good job of running it since they took over? I guess maybe I can grab a Rogue Imperial XSI at a regional price now.

assurbanipaul said...

Majestic bought GVM in 2003.

Unknown said...

assurbanipaul, we sold Grape Vine Market in 2006, not 2003. In 2004 our majority owner Bob Thomajan was killed in a plane crash. His wife became majority owner and not being a US citizen she could not own a liquor store in Texas. This set in motion a series of events forcing us to sell or close. In 2003 life was very very good. In 2004 we suffered tragedy that changed the course of Grape Vine. Just setting the record straight.

assurbanipaul said...

@Steve I have an article that says '03 (but that could be wrong).

Thanks for providing more info, and sorry for the loss of both a good guy and a good store. This is a more complex issue than anyone seems to realize.