Total Wine & More
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder(s) | David and Robert Trone |
| Headquarters | Potomac, Maryland |
| Number of locations | 59 stores (2009) |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Wine, spirits, beer |
| Employees | 800+ (2007) |
| Website | www.totalwine.com |
Total Wine & More is an American retailing company founded in 1991 by David and Robert Trone when they opened two wine stores in Delaware.
Each Total Wine store carries approximately 8,000 different types of wine, 2,000 types of spirits (where permitted by law) and 1,000 different beers. Each store employs wine associates who are knowledgeable and passionate about wine. The stores are large and spacious, ranging from 9,000 to 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2). They also provide in-house publications to their customers, including Total Wine & More's Guide to Wine, a quarterly Buying Guide which lists brands and prices, and a quarterly newsletter (The Wine Advisor).
Total Wine currently has 59 locations in ten states (Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, California, Virginia and Maryland). The two stores in Maryland operate as Corridor Wine & Spirits and Beltway Fine Wine.
Total Wine & More has become one of the largest independent fine wine retailers in the United States and is among just a handful of fine wine retailers who operate in multiple states. It is the leading non-supermarket seller of fine wine in the United States.
[edit] History
Prior to entering the wine business, the Trone brothers were involved in the beer business in Pennsylvania. Their father, Thomas Trone Sr., originally started the family in the alcohol business, purchasing the first family beer retailer in the late seventies. In Pennsylvania, David and Robert operated a consulting business, Retail Services and Systems, which offered accounting and marketing services to retail beer distributors. Their primary clients were the "Beer World" retail beverage stores, which were located in Pennsylvania, most notably in the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg areas. Some of these Pennsylvania stores remain, but they are no longer associated with the Trone family.
In 1998, Total Wine purchased 5 Total Beverage stores from the Dart Group. Following the purchase, Total Wine grew slowly until 2002, at which time other executives were brought in from major retailers like CVS, BJ's, Hechinger, Blockbuster, Hecht's, and others; this has allowed steady expansion thereafter. This infusion of outside talent has allowed Total Wine & More to revamp their prototype, add new product lines, increase the selection, increase customer service, and improve day to day operations. Today, brothers David, Robert and John Trone work in their corporate office in Potomac, Maryland.
