Raley’s upping customer service for wine buyers
By Sonya Sorich, Sacramento Business Journal
As competition for local grocery shoppers’ attention increases, Raley’s Inc. is heightening its focus on wine.
So don’t be surprised if you soon see a wine steward in your local Raley’s store, ready to help you decide which adult beverage to serve at your big Saturday night dinner.
“It’s our job to make sure the customer comes in and doesn’t feel overwhelmed,” said Curtis Mann, a wine, beer and spirits buyer for the West Sacramento-based grocer.
The wine stewards are part of an effort that began about two years ago: a decision to transform 20 of the company’s approximately 120 locations into “wine shop stores,” according to Mann. Those 20 stores include Raley’s locations, as well as Bel Air Markets and Nob Hill Foods, which the grocer also operates.
I think the South Lake Tahoe Safeway is a little ahead of that curve. Troy Denkler, a South Tahoe native who has an excellent knowledge of wine and who’s father was a longtime Summit (Harrah’s) employee, took over their liquor department months ago. I had the pleasure of coaching Troy in soccer when he was 8 years old MANY years ago, and five years ago when I re-opened David Wally’s 1862 Restaurant as GM he took over the reigns from me when I left the restaurant business. Within his first year at 1862 he expanded and refined the wine list I created and won a Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.
As of yesterday, the person providing the ‘sommellier’ function for the 157 BevMo stores is now to be @ Raley’s Sacramento headquarters. . .
BevMo restored my faith in store selections, as they carry a large representative sampling of Sancerre, which is what the French people drink daily, not those created for the palate of the foreign market. . .but one glass/day is still O.K. as a health item, so as that market heats up, so will alcoholic problems. . .the wine market today has too many suppliers for them all to survive. . .