Starting a "wine store/tasting room"?

[Cpfainting]

Hi,
This is my first post so i hope I'm going the right direction with this......

My family recently built the foundations (tasting room and land prepped) for a boutique vineyard. It will be a venue as well as a farm to grow grapes. We are considering opening a Wine Store closer to the city for a number of reasons: exposure to brand, market reach (venue), profitability. We have our eye on a building that needs renovation, because it has historic meaning to the community. It has two floors with the upstairs being capable for a more formal setting.

Does anyone have advice for this type of situation? If we sold wine and liquor, had formal events and wine tastings, does it seem like we could turn a decent profit on just this store before vineyard production?

Thanks so much and by the way....we're in the south!

[KristineS]

Do you guys know anything about wine? Do you have any connections to the local wine community, if there is one, besides building the foundations for a new tasting room? Wine stores can do very well and if you had space to do tastings or release parties or whatever and could create a unique atmosphere you may do quite well. The big question is if there is a market for what you want to do in your town.

Where I live we have several vineyards within 30 miles and there are a ton of wine drinkers and foodies. So wine stores and gourmet food stores do well. If your area is somewhat similar, you may do very well there, if not, probably not. Do your market research, check out your competition and see what the possibilities are, but be realistic. If you think the market can support your venture, and your thoughts are based on knowledge and research, I would say move forward.

[nealrm]

This sounds like something that we should sit around and discuss. Perhaps with a few glasses of wine ;)

Wine stores in the right area can do well. There are many in this area that do a good business selling wine tasting, weddings, lunch, etc. One even has a full business media room setup for off-site business conferences.