I had hoped to have a long post here that finally dispelled the mystery around what happened to Wine World (400 NE 45th St). Since it first opened, it’s served as a gateway to Wallingford, a towering landmark over I-5. But the footprint! How can they afford the rent? Why did the first owner, David LeClaire, exit? Who owns it now? What’s been going on since it closed 14 months ago? Why did it close?
Unfortunately, all I can say at the moment is the following: 1) it’s a tangled, torrid story, and 2) it’s re-opening March 10th!
Stop in this coming Friday, March 10th from 11 am to 3:30 pm for the opening day party. There will be a live DJ, food (provided by Paseo!) and, if you poke around, maybe even some clues to the whole backstory.
I promise I’ll write more about it when things have had a chance to settle out, but for now, I’m just happy to have that anchor back.
It was a nice place, but I like to go to City Cellars for wine. He is such a nice guy, and I like independent businesses. If I want more Baileys Irish Cream, Wine World will be my destination!
Wine World is an independent business.
Wow! I had no idea! Thank you so much, Chuck, for the information!
11- 330 seems like such a funny time, I wonder why they aren’t going into the evening a bit? I’d totally come if it were after work!
It will be open until 9pm. 11-330 is just the time for the event.
Most working people wiht disposable incomes to buy interestign high priced wines WORK during 11-330. Why not celebrate when people can attend/
Good news…was an impressive store in its heyday, fingers crossed for the reboot & thanks for posting!
I shopped there so little I didn’t even know it had closed. They had a very good selection of mezcals, but I could find better prices elsewhere on almost everything they stocked. Be interesting to see what the new approach will be.
Don’t think David ever owned it – at least he doesn’t think he did.
And the space is way too big – no doubt about that
Best ask if the merchandise you want is newly arrived or has been sitting in there for a year and a half, and if so, can they guarantee it is still in good shape? The beer would be long dead, and the wine, standing up all that time, and in who knows what environmental conditions, could be questionable. I prefered the service and price at City Cellars; will be interesting to see what these new folks do.
Some beer purists would advise you to always check bottling date anyway. Sometimes that’s fairly obvious, like readable dates on the bottom of some of the better cans. Others may be hard to find or decode, so … don’t buy those, would be one solution.
I just called them and asked them what happened to the wine that was there while they were closed. The manager told me “It was temperature-controlled”. Obviously I have not been inside while they were closed but they frequently did not have the air conditioning on during hot summer days while they were open. i used to have to mention it to them. On some hot days, it was cooler outside. I’m not going to buy any wine from them.
I dropped by in the early afternoon. Beer selection was good, bigger than before. Wine is not yet up to what they had before. Distilled spirits seem to represented entirely by a lot of empty bottles at this point. I don’t know what that means. More empty bottles now than there were full bottles when they went dark. A few vermouths and aperitifs though.
They’re arguably not ready for business. A good deal of the inventory is not “in the system”, so a purchase is likely to involve people running around and finding out what each item costs. I’m sure they’d be happy to see you if you want to see them, though.
I would love to know what the backstory is here. I went in yesterday evening. It was like entering a time capsule. They’ve dusted off the place and opened it just as it was when it closed. I don’t know if they’ve traded out the beer, but the wine stock is what’s been sitting there for over a year. Price labels have yellowed, magazines on display date from 2015. I happened across a bottle that I know hasn’t been available elsewhere for a year — so there may be some treasure hunting for wine lovers. The liquor section is filled with scores of empty bottles. Could be there’s a licensing problem, and the bottles are meant to indicate the booze will be there eventually.
Staff were friendly but seemed to be in over their heads — having problems at checkout, unsure about whether there were going to be events like WW had in the past. We were there at around 7, with maybe half a dozen other customers. One of the staff told us there was going to be a comedy show at 9, which sounded interesting but unlikely — there was no signage promoting the show, and the event space wasn’t set up for it.
It will be interesting to see how things play out. I hope they get their feet under them, but they’re off to a wobbly start.
I was there from 1:00 to 2:30 yesterday. I brought five friends and we were our own party because no one else was there. A guy from Laurelwood Brewery in Portland was pouring beer. We had several small glasses. The food was not from Paseo, but was good. The DJ looked bored but kept on spinning.
I purchased a six-pack and a 22-ounce bottle from Laurelwood because I knew for sure that their beer had been delivered that day. The rest of the inventory? Not quite as sure. There were some Christmas Ales and anniversary ales from 2014. That’s fine for some beer, but not all.
It’s interesting that the front of the store is now entirely beer. I love beer and they have a great selection. But wine seems to be playing second fiddle…at Wine World.
The liquor bottles are indeed empty. It’s my understanding (from “poking around”) that there is an issue with their liquor license.
I got a 6-pack of an IPA from Spokane with a February 2017 date. I didn’t check a lot of dates, but unlike the story above on the wine, to me the beer ilne-up looked current. So while I can’t guarantee you won’t find anything ancient there, there is plenty of new stock. I’ll wait for marked prices before I buy anything else, though.