I must say, I didn't look terribly long and hard, but the Lincoln Park Sam's->Binny's (on Marcey) seems to be pretty well-stocked in the liquor department...maybe they have gotten new product in?

I was there on Saturday and it was well-stocked.

My wife and I went to see what was on closeout sale. Unfortunately, not that much that excited us. We picked up a few bottles of wine on sale, a few bottles of hard stuff that wasn't on sale, and also picked up a Binny's card.

jsagoff wrote:I must say, I didn't look terribly long and hard, but the Lincoln Park Sam's->Binny's (on Marcey) seems to be pretty well-stocked in the liquor department...maybe they have gotten new product in?

Good to know. Thanks. They told me it was coming and after what I saw at the Highland Park store, I figured it wasn't too far off.

=R=

Let's understand one thing, Sam's is dead, period.
The personal service, Fred at the door and I go back to the original Sam's. I purchased wine and futures by the case from Sam's and they always came through even when others wanted to increase my purchase prices due to currency fluctuations.
Binney's prices on hard liquor and beer can be very good on major brands but the Sam's finds and Sam's branded items are over. Since Binney's now effectively controls the Chicago and suberbs alcoholic beverage market, prices may rise actually but the selection of wines at Binney's has never been as good as at Sam's.
So, the deal(deed) is done and its time to move on.-Dick

Who isn't moving on?

Binny's may be the largest (and only very large) alcohol store, but I don't think it controls the market by any means. There are many, many small and medium sized stores. Most will special order anything you want.

I've totally moved on. I've been to the Binny's on Marcy a few times since the turnover, and it is a 100% better than Sam's. Sam's has been horrible the past two years. My favorite bottle of Champagne has gone down $10.

nicinchic wrote:I've totally moved on. I've been to the Binny's on Marcy a few times since the turnover, and it is a 100% better than Sam's. Sam's has been horrible the past two years. My favorite bottle of Champagne has gone down $10.

Yeah, Sam's stopped being Sam's long before it was officially no more. Binny's has been very good lately -- especially for spirits -- but I do worry that their pricing will creep up now that they have no major competitor in town. So far, that hasn't happened, though. Service at Binny's has remained exceptional, as always.

Btw, is their a happier place to be during the holidays that the liquor store? The shelves and aisles are just crammed with all sorts of fun stuff.

=R=

I have been thinking about my first, unforgetable visit to Sams Wine and Liquor at their original location in 1982. We parked under the ell tracks just East of the store in total darkness. Our friends, from St. Louis, were more than slightly frightened.

We walked West past some seedy storefronts and entered the store. There were lots of liquor bottles and a neighborhood customer was purchasing a half-pint of their finest and tucking it into his topcoat. The store was empty and a cardboard sign alerted us to the WINE DEPARTMENT with a downward facing arrow. It was obvious that the street level store included many wines but most of these had a 20% alcohol content.

We walked past the wooden checkout counter with the large display of half pints ready to be inserted into brown paper bags. At the entrance to the WINE DEPARTMENT, there was a long metal wheel conveyor ramp which ran down the stairs to the WINE DEPARTMENT. The stairwell was narrow due to the conveyor ramp which had some whole cases of wine at the bottom.

The WINE DEPARTMENT was a catacomb of small cellar rooms that must have extended past the boundaries of the wino emporium on the first floor. Each room was dedicated to one genre of offerings. While the rooms were not labeled, each stack of cases was topped with a paperboard sign denoting the provenance of the wine.

There was a roomful of French Burgandy, a roomful of Bordeaux, a room of California whites, a room of Italy, Spain, Germany, New World. It was heaven and the prices matched the decor - PERFECTLY!

Our friends did not appropriately understand Sam's cleaning crew which worked each room's corners as we perused the fine wines. These cockroaches were kind enough to let us search the cases without interfering.

We carried our wonderful catches (at prices 30% less than expected) to the street level checkout. The staff was sparse, well informed, helpful and sold wonderful wines at bargain prices. We carried the wine to the darkness under the ell tracks and drove off toward a high-end Northern Italian restaurant.

ALAS, WE WERE STOPPED BY A CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER WITH HIS WHOOPERS AT FULL SONG! He announced through his LOUD-speaker, "Mr. Granzeau, are you lost?" We pulled over and he explained that we were in an undesirable neighborhood for a resident of Springfield, IL. (High tech police equipment at its best.)

We explained our visit and stole off into the night. I have visited Sam's dozens of times since that first time in 1982. As you can guess, they moved to their fancy quarters in the mid-1980's. I always find something wonderful, mostly wines but also calvados, limoncello, framboise, rainwater maderia, pastis, an wonderful Italian and Spanish wines.

Where are the Rosen's today?

The closest you can get to Sam's atmosphere is Howard's Wine Cellar. You can pull up all sorts of treasures there--dusting off some nice 10- to 15-year old bottles of wine drinking fantastic for $10-$25. Inventory is huge there, though it's a tiny store and you literally have to tuck in your elbows and ask for help navigating the place from Howard, who used to run Sam's wine department years ago when the Rosens owned it. I was reading the Wall Street Journal when traveling in Texas, and Howard was quoted in a front-page article on wine (one of those far left column feature articles). The shop doesn't look like much at first glance, but it's a real treasure trove, especially of Old World wines but also some great New World ones as well. His Saturday tasting features roughly 6-8 wines. For some regions I would even go so far as saying they have more selection than Binny's. They don't carry beer and I haven't seen any liquor to the best of my knowledge, though. Belmont between Racine and Southport, tucked away in a strip mall. Maybe the best Alsatian and Austrian selection in town, very good Piedmont (esp. Barolo and Barbaresco), lots of vintage port--same labels with several different vintages, great Loire, and a huge Burgundy section. Spain and Italy are decently represented as well.

"Where are the Rosen's today?"

Fred can be still be found at the Marcy St location from time to time in his same location, greeting customers as they come in.-Dick

Tim wrote:Where are the Rosen's today?

Ran across this industry-pub interview at Shanken News Daily with Michael Binstein. I thought it was interesting and with one notable exception, fairly candid . . .

SND: I read recently about Brian Rosen joining Evolution Wine & Spirits and their plans for two more stores in the Chicago area. What do you think about that? Is competition heating up in your market?

BINSTEIN: I’m proud to announce that Fred Rosen (former owner of Sam’s Wine & Spirits) is working for us.

SND: When did he join you?

BINSTEIN: Fred joined our company in October and is back working in the flagship store in Lincoln Park, the former Sam’s location. He’s helping to solidify the old Sam’s customer base, building bridges to old customers and new customers alike. He’s been a great asset for us.

SND: What do you think about his son competing against you?

BINSTEIN: I’m very happy and proud that Fred’s working for us.

Binnys Beverage Depot Of Chicago Continues Aggressive Expansion

=R=

brianzee wrote:The closest you can get to Sam's atmosphere is Howard's Wine Cellar. You can pull up all sorts of treasures there--dusting off some nice 10- to 15-year old bottles of wine drinking fantastic for $10-$25. Inventory is huge there, though it's a tiny store and you literally have to tuck in your elbows and ask for help navigating the place from Howard, who used to run Sam's wine department years ago when the Rosens owned it. I was reading the Wall Street Journal when traveling in Texas, and Howard was quoted in a front-page article on wine (one of those far left column feature articles). The shop doesn't look like much at first glance, but it's a real treasure trove, especially of Old World wines but also some great New World ones as well. His Saturday tasting features roughly 6-8 wines. For some regions I would even go so far as saying they have more selection than Binny's. They don't carry beer and I haven't seen any liquor to the best of my knowledge, though. Belmont between Racine and Southport, tucked away in a strip mall. Maybe the best Alsatian and Austrian selection in town, very good Piedmont (esp. Barolo and Barbaresco), lots of vintage port--same labels with several different vintages, great Loire, and a huge Burgundy section. Spain and Italy are decently represented as well.

Just noticed this thread. I don't claim to know much about much, but I've spent many years learning about wine.
Howard is a great guy with an excellent collection of wine. He's one of those quality persons who deserves as much business as we can give him.

Howard's Wine Cellar
1244 W. Belmont

TomInSkokie wrote:

brianzee wrote:The closest you can get to Sam's atmosphere is Howard's Wine Cellar. You can pull up all sorts of treasures there--dusting off some nice 10- to 15-year old bottles of wine drinking fantastic for $10-$25. Inventory is huge there, though it's a tiny store and you literally have to tuck in your elbows and ask for help navigating the place from Howard, who used to run Sam's wine department years ago when the Rosens owned it. I was reading the Wall Street Journal when traveling in Texas, and Howard was quoted in a front-page article on wine (one of those far left column feature articles). The shop doesn't look like much at first glance, but it's a real treasure trove, especially of Old World wines but also some great New World ones as well. His Saturday tasting features roughly 6-8 wines. For some regions I would even go so far as saying they have more selection than Binny's. They don't carry beer and I haven't seen any liquor to the best of my knowledge, though. Belmont between Racine and Southport, tucked away in a strip mall. Maybe the best Alsatian and Austrian selection in town, very good Piedmont (esp. Barolo and Barbaresco), lots of vintage port--same labels with several different vintages, great Loire, and a huge Burgundy section. Spain and Italy are decently represented as well.

Just noticed this thread. I don't claim to know much about much, but I've spent many years learning about wine.
Howard is a great guy with an excellent collection of wine. He's one of those quality persons who deserves as much business as we can give him.

Howard's Wine Cellar
1244 W. Belmont

Legendary wine seller Howard Silverman is hanging up his corkscrew

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... wine-store

Legendary wine seller Howard Silverman is hanging up his corkscrew

Sorry to read this. Howard was vital to me in developing my wine palate. He took the time to assist me in picking out several cases of individual wines to try in the beginning and then various wines over the next few years. I miss both his company on a slow afternoon and his shop. There in nothing like them here in Tennessee, especially for the Austrian and Alsatian wines I grew to enjoy the most. Here's wishing Howard sincere luck in whatever he wishes to do in the future. Thanks, Howard!