Pennsylvania wine kiosk experiments fails at grocery chain

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's short-lived wine kiosk experiment has failed at an area grocery store chain, but will plans to install the wine vending machines at Pennsylvania Walmart stores fare better?

The Wegmans grocery store chain recently announced the wine kiosks in three of their Pennsylvania stores will be removed. The news comes after a short-lived experiment that started last fall and included a holiday season shutdown due to mechanical glitches. The wine kiosks in the Downingtown, Collegeville and Warrington Wegmans stores are slated to be removed within 30 days.

The initial news of the installation of wine kiosks in area grocery stores was big news for Pennsylvanians, who have always been limited to purchasing wine through Pennsylvania wine and spirits stores. The convenience of the wine kiosks trumped the limited selection, but in some stores the wine kiosk pilot program didn't take off as the PLCB had planned.

Some consumers were intimidated by the process, which includes a swipe of a driver's license and a mini breath analysis test. Others had a hard time choosing a wine without the advice of a seasoned PLCB employee.

Wegmans cited the limited wine selections and lack of personal service as the reason for the removal of the kiosks. And while Pennsylvania shoppers may have enjoyed the convenience of grocery store wine-buying for a few fleeting months, all is not lost.

Other select Pennsylvania grocery stores like Giant Eagle, Acme, Genuardi, Giant Food and Shop 'N Save will still offer the wine kiosk service.

And in a larger scale move, 24 Pennsylvania Walmart stores are set to get wine kiosks in the near future -- so soon it will be one stop shopping for everything from camping equipment to cabernet, from Pampers to pinot grigio.

But will Walmart shoppers want to pay the inflated price for vending machine wine?

The wine kiosks at Wegmans made sense. In the Collegeville store the kiosk was strategically located between the produce aisle and gourmet cheese section. Wine aficionados could easily select a bottle of vino to go with their gourmet cheese and appetizers, all in one stop. The $1 convenience fee for using the kiosk was worth skipping a trip to the liquor store.

But at Walmart, gourmet food is not on the menu. Price cuts are. And at a store where deep discounts are the main course, some customers may turn their noses up at the convenience fee when they can get the same bottle of wine cheaper at a state store.

As for Wegmans, perhaps the announcement that they are removing the wine kiosks may result in a temporary surge in their usage. Because sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Victoria Leigh Miller is a freelanced writer and Pennsylvania resident.