Total Wine faces off against BevMo

Watch out, BevMo.

Total Wine's opening in Rancho Cucamonga could signal more than just a friendly competitive nudge in the alcohol retail market.

Promotional signs throughout the mega-retailer's store - which sits on Foothill Boulevard across from BevMo - boast how it "crushes" BevMo when it comes to lower prices.

So, is the alcohol behemoth in Total Wine's crosshairs? The wine superstore's co-founder says it isn't so.

"Our biggest competitor in California is Vons, and second biggest is Costco, and the third is Ralphs," said David Trone, president of Total Wine & More, a Potomac, Md.-based subsidiary of Retail Services and Systems Inc. "There's room for everybody in this market."

California and Arizona are BevMo territory. Most of the Concord-based company's 99 stores sport 10,000 square feet of wine, hard liquor, beer and party accessories.

But Total Wine - which has dozens of stores in eight states on the East Coast - has also opened stores in Tustin and Sacramento, making its foray into California a move that can't be ignored.

A BevMo spokesman declined to talk about whether Total Wine is launching a wine-and-spirits war.

"All I can say about Total Wine coming here is: Welcome to the neighborhood," said David Richards, executive vice president of marketing for Beverages and More, a company owned by private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners in London.

He wouldn't comment beyond that.

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Trone, a co-founder of Total Wine, praises his company's ability to buy in bulk.

"We're always the price leader in every market we're in," Trone said.

He may be right, although new stores sometimes subdue prices in the grand-opening period before hiking them in the future.

Total Wine stores range from 9,000 to 50,000 square feet, and the Rancho Cucamonga location is 25,000 square feet.

BevMo employees in Rancho Cucamonga say they'll match a competitor's price on products.

At Total Wine last week, a bottle of Chateau Gloria Saint-Julien 2006 went for $29.97. Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc 2008 cost $10.97, and Barefoot Zinfandel was $4.99.

Those same randomly selected wines at BevMo cost more: $55.99, $12.99 and $6.99, respectively. You can slash a buck off the Barefoot if you're a BevMo card member.

That's a 40percent savings if you shopped at Total Wine - but keep in mind that wine prices go up and down sometimes weekly, depending on the batch.

"They're going to crush BevMo - at least that's what my friends say," said Toni Mendoza, a first-time customer strolling up to Total Wine's front doors on Tuesday.

She remembers the splash BevMo made when it opened in Rancho Cucamonga, describing it as a "Toys R Us for booze."

Still, Mendoza said, BevMo might have the upper hand when it comes to customer service.

Grace Bedoya, standing beside her, agreed - but she still thinks Total Wine in Rancho Cucamonga will force the BevMo across the street to close.

"There's a huge selection here. It's amazing," Bedoya said. "But I love BevMo, too. They're knowledgeable and personal."

Total Wine's 8,000 wines, 2,000 spirits and more than 1,000 beers are its main selling points, plastered on its Web site and advertisements.

Mendoza doesn't "think they'll put BevMo out of business," she said.

That could be a good thing.

"The competition is good for us," Mendoza said.