Total Wine & More is planning to celebrate Oregon Wine Month system-wide in May. As you may know, Total Wine is a large retail chain with 193 stores across 20 states. Nearly half of their locations – 44% – are concentrated in Florida, Texas and California. See the Total Wine website for a map showing their retail store presence around the country.
Total Wine is finalizing details of their Oregon Wine Month program, but the chain’s senior associate buyer of Northwest wines has said that the plan will include Oregon end cap displays, marketing through their consumer platforms, and in-store events. They want to bring as many Oregon wineries as possible to their stores during Oregon Wine Month to pour for shoppers. Wineries that have placements in Total Wine are invited to sign up for in-store tasting events throughout May at locations around the country.
As you consider your strategy for working with Total Wine (or other retailers) around Oregon Wine Month, here are a few points to consider:
- Be sure to include your distributor early in discussions about where and how to best engage with retail partners
- Make sure you understand any discount structure involved with participation
- Ensure you have a strategy for how you will afford any pricing adjustments
- Work with your distributor to consider what impact discounted pricing at Total Wine could have at other off-premise locations in the markets
The Oregon Wine Month platform is intended for use by wineries, retailers, restaurants and distributors to help create a focus period for Oregon wines. Total Wine is the first example of a national retailer that has indicated to us their intent to promote Oregon Wine Month system-wide, and the OWB is supporting Total Wine in its efforts to further build its Oregon business through this platform. In addition to helping spread the word to the industry about available opportunities like this, we are offering Total Wine assistance with point of sale materials and an educational training webinar for store-level staff.
We were made aware of Total Wine’s interest in Oregon Wine Month by wineries that consider this a key account. If you know of other national or large regional retail chains that have expressed interest in Oregon Wine Month, please put them in touch with OWB’s trade relations manager, Christina DeArment.
For wineries that are not working with Total Wine, or do not have volume for large retail placements, rest assured that the complete Oregon Wine Month program will have opportunities for wineries of all sizes and sales channel strategies. The OWB marketing team will be populating the Oregon Wine Month industry toolkit over the coming weeks, so check back for more information about Oregon Wine Month.
