Two Carytown establishments bite the dust
Style Weekly reports that “Metro Bakery in Carytown closes after Mardi Gras. Carytown Wine & Beer closed two weeks ago.”
Also in this week’s issue, Style gives its take on the R-Braves, who also happen to be biting the dust come September.
I was in CTW&B this weekend, twice. Is it officially closed? I’d heard that they would take through the end of the month to sell the fixtures and shelves and whatnot.
Dude, Carytown Wine & Beer closed? Where have I been? That sucks. Where are we going to get cool, specialty beer in walking distance now?
Carytown Wine & Beer was a nice store, but over the last 5-6 years, I don’t think I ever saw more than one or two people at any one time. Too bad, though- he’s a nice guy.
I think being in Cary Court hurt them some in the end. Before the new Stratford Hills Once Upon a Vine opened, I’d drive to Bellevue even though Carytown is 3 minutes away, just because I could never get a reasonably close parking place.
Its probably because of that dang Carytown gang.
I am soooo bummed about Carytown Beer closing. Though I live in Williamsburg, that was my main Richmond beer store. I’ve spent a lot of money there over the past 11 years. There are other good beer stores in Richmond (Once Upon A Vine, etc), but Carytown was my emotional favorite and the one I always went to on a regular basis. Sigh…
Anybody know exactly why they are closing?
Crap…
I can’t say I’m all that disappointed by Carytown Wine & Beer Closing. They had a limited selection and the owner never reinvested in his store–it looked really bland by Carytown standards. The prices were also quite high…
I hate to see any small merchant close, but Carytown is not hurting by any means. That storefront will be filled before we know it.
the beer market is a tricky one, as the distributors really control what you have access to, so I’d never found that CTW&B had any different selection than any other store that they competed with, with the differeniation being when they inevitably ran out of stuff. and while that storefront is likely filled by this weekend (I think that tomorow is their last day of business? There were 20 6-pks of beer left there, max, when I walked by yesterday), there seems to me to be a lot of empty retail space on Cary st lately.
I thought their prices were better than River City Cellars and their selection was about the same.
I hear there is a great beer place north of the Diamond that has a better selection than the other stores around town.
you’re probably talking about the original Once Upon a Vine on MacArthur. Yes, better selection, but nothing that you wouldn’t find at the other stores; they just run out of things at different times. I find that a lot of the beers that are on the shelf over there are still there for a reason.
Another interesting forray into the subject of the beer business from another local merchant out on Broad St, if you have a few moments to read it:
http://www.wineandbeerwestpark.com/