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GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

The Grape drives sales by demystifying wine for nonconnoisseurs

By Donna Mitchell

Shoppers can try on pants or flip through books before buying. No news there. But why not allow them to test out wines as well?

Why not indeed, says The Grape, a growing chain of wine shop-bar combos making its home in upscale malls, lifestyle centers and other locations. The Atlanta-based retailer says it wants to demystify the wine-buying process by letting customers taste-test the wares.

Americans are drinking more wine than ever, about three gallons per person last year, according to New York City-based M. Shanken Communications’ Impact Databank. The nurture of this burgeoning wine culture looks like good business. To be sure, three gallons looks like small grapes compared to the roughly 14 gallons the French and the Italians drink, but even so, it is up 30 percent from 10 years ago.

“[Americans] now have the income and the sophistication to enjoy wine, and our environment gives them the opportunity,” said Martin A. Thallman, the Grape’s president.

The Grape opened its first unit in 2000 in Atlanta. Today the chain operates five stores and wine bars in malls and lifestyle centers in Florida and Georgia, including Phipps Plaza, Simon Property Group’s ritzy mall in Atlanta’s Buckhead section. Simon also leased space to the Grape at the mixed-use St. Johns Town Center, in Jacksonville, Fla.

The company plans to open 15 more in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic by year-end, some of them franchises, says Thallman.

Enjoyment is a driving principle at the Grape. The chain steers clear of the typical wine store setting, where selections numbering in the thousands only confuse and intimidate the nonconnoisseur — anyone who is not, say, a devoted follower of wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr., publisher of The Wine Advocate. The staff do the groundwork for the customers, tasting and then classifying products into a 10-category, color-coded system of roughly 120 to 150 wines, from light whites to bold reds.

“The taste of wine is based on its ‘weight’ on your palate,” said Thallman. “We can cover all the various taste profiles effectively with 150 wines.”

The Grape invites customers to leave nothing to chance. Tasting before purchase minimizes costly letdowns later, and now patrons need not know a cabernet sauvignon from a merlot when all they want is a tasty libation. “Taste is all that counts,” is the chain’s motto.

The Grape has company in this drive to profit from the growth of the American wine market. Bacchus, a specialty wine store in New York City, goes by the motto “Wine Made Simple.” Like the Grape, Bacchus offers a pared-down selection of wines and organizes them into its own color-coded classification system. Many of its products come from lesser-known wineries in such countries as Australia and South Africa.

“Definitely, the wines that come from the ‘new world countries’ are more easy on the palate,” said Lisa Grossman, the owner of Bacchus. These are less expensive, because there are no added marketing costs, she says, and they attract those who are new to wine.

Part of the Grape’s mission is to educate Americans about the world’s vast spectrum of great-tasting wines and to help establish lesser-known brands here. In that spirit, the Grape sponsors a wine club, wine-tasting events and appearances by vintners from around the world, says Thallman.

The Grape works hard to put its customers at ease. Thallman, Managing Director Jack Mazur and Operations Director Jeff Pendleton all drew on their decades of collective experience with wine production, sales and hospitality to create the company.

In addition to the club meetings and wine tastings, local musicians entertain on the Grape’s wine bar patios, adding verve to the vino.

Thallman would not disclose sales figures, but he says the company only considers taking space in centers where it stands a good chance of earning at least $750 in sales per square foot. Checks at the wine bar range between $20 and $25 per sitting, he says.

The Phipps Plaza store opened in February, says Tisha A. Maley, Simon’s assistant vice president of leasing. The Grape helps the mall on two fronts, she says: It provides another dining and retail option, and it sets the mall apart. “Their restaurant design is unique, sophisticated and attracts a predominantly female shopper,” Maley wrote in an e-mail.

The Grape stores are a package of wine bar and store, so they require about 2,400 to 2,800 square feet of space and 40 feet of frontage, executives say. Rich, dark wood frames the glass doors and facades. Inside, the Grape aims for a sexy and eclectic atmosphere, with warm yellows and burgundies reminiscent of wine colors. The selections are displayed in rows along the walls and on so-called wine-tree bottle racks. Appropriately enough, the floors incorporate cork.

The wine bar does serve a valuable function as a way to introduce customers to new wines, but its main purpose is the same as any other bar: to facilitate drinking and socializing. Where local laws allow, the store does hold free tastings, says Thallman.

The Grape prefers to be near the likes of Chico’s, Talbots and others that target women (women comprise the largest single segment of wine drinkers, says Grossman), but it also does a brisk trade near restaurants. As for restaurant co-tenants, the Grape likes to be near such high-end national concepts as The Capitol Grille, The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.

The Grape does serves its own line of light gourmet meals and desserts, but these are chosen only to accent the wine selection, Thallman says. “We really complement the other restaurants,” he said. “We don’t compete with them.

Mall units, however, need both in-line and exterior access to allow for the patio, Thallman says.

Fine wines are never rushed from the vineyard to the table, and the Grape is going about its expansion in similar fashion. The company says it prefers to roll out the concept in trophy malls, upscale lifestyle centers and urban neighborhoods, though, as Thallman puts it, “We’re not looking to put one on every corner.”