Total Wine & More

Headed over on Thanksgiving Day to pickup some last minute wine for my family. I understand that working on Thanksgiving can be difficult, and I was grateful that they were still open and working. The woman there, Bambi, was snappy, rude, and unprofessional. She treated me and my girlfriend like we did not belong in the store. I thought that it was perhaps because she was working on a holiday, but we noticed though that with other (non-minority) clients she was perfectly fine and capable of being polite. I would recommend checking out other locations with fairer and nicer workers. To top this off, we were denied samples that were advertized despite it being very easy to accomodate us and even get an extra sale... but alas. I will not be returning to this location.

This is definitely my go to place when I want to entertain or just relax and have some thing special. They have almost everything I'm looking for and more staff is very knowledgeable and prompt when you need assistance I also like that they have a reward point system

Wide selection of beers, wines, cigars, spirits, tools, and more from around the world.
Many items refrigerated, and plenty more on the floor. I found everything that my friends would enjoy

For sure they have a wider selection, but all of the items aren't always in stock, or as advertised. For instance, if you wanted to save an additional 10%, buy the mix of 6 of wines or champagnes. Trouble is, they frequently are out of the six that you had wanted! When you ask when they re-stock up? They really can't say with any certainty. i.e. the Laurent Perrier Cuvée champagne? The customer service is ok. It's not outstanding but it's NOT a total "flame out!" It's decent. And, for the Blanton bourbon lovers? Forget about it. They don't ever have it. $200.00 a bottle on the open market!

I was searching the northern Illinois southern Wisconsin area to find Blatz beer, to bring back home to California. Total wine and more has just about everything you can think of and their staff is friendly, courteous, and helpful. I found my Blatz beer and that will Make my friends back home happy.

When I'm in the area I make a point of stopping here. It's pretty much the greatest liquor store ever, it's a grocery store full of booze.

Their prices are awesome and cheaper than any other place I've been (for things I like) but I'm not super fancy so I can't speak to everything. Their selection is almost overwhelming but don't worry, the staff is super helpful and will help you find whatever you need. They really know their stuff.

I'm not sure but I'd guess they can also special order anything you need if they don't have it. They have a huge selection of mini bottles which is great for gifts or sneaking into movie theaters! Just kidding, you shouldn't do that ;)

It's St Patrick's day and the people at work are talking about green beer and corn beef, I have the corn beef and no beer so I thought a good beer sounds good and not no crappy bar green beer so I stopped by. I have been wanting to stop by since they opened and today was the day, wow sensory overload. It's hard to imagine that you can't find an adult beverage that you like here because it's enormous. It's big, bright, clean and overwhelming with tasting stations and a humidor room for the cigar smoker. I stopped at Shell's brewery tasting station and chatted up the rep while tasting the Citra Blanc American Pale Lager, not bad so I grabbed one. I told him I was not here for this and I was actually looking for an Irish something for today and no green crappy stuff and he suggested the competition, Great Lakes Brewing Co Conway's Irish Ale, how cool is that so I grabbed a sixer also. How cool is that, I had a great helpful first impression and I have not interacted with a store employee yet. While waiting to check out an actual store employee grabbed me to come to her register and check me out right now with no waiting.

Overall I had a great first impression with staff/vendors and I left with more than I came in for so I would return to sample some more of the craft beer that I have never seen before.

Wine Selection: *****
Spirit Selection: *****
Beer Selection: *****
Value: ****
Customer Service: **
Knowledge: NA

My first impression was wow 5 stars... after a few other visits, I have to give it 4 stars because of the value and customer service. The name Total Wines & More really doesn't do justice especially for those people that don't drink wine in which they may not even visit the store. It is more than a typical liquor store and they do have more than just wines. Just about every type of spirit, beers and wines. I'm not a scotch snob or a craft IPA snob so do they carry everything? I doubt that but who does? The point is, you should be able to find just about everything you want or at least something comparable. As most retail stores will do, they stock what will sell or what should sell. They won't stock they one off wine that you tried in Bordeaux France from a 50 hectares vineyard from Cadillac appellation. So let's rate what we can and compare them to other liquor stores in the area such as Discount Liquor (not our local Pick N Save liquor department).

So let's talk about the good. Do they have an extensive selection of wines, spirits and beers? Absolutely. Do they have some that I can't find elsewhere? Yes. To compare to someone such as Discount Liquor, they have a larger footprint, newer building and more parking. Checkout lanes are usually fast. The store is really clean and rows and shelves are clearly labeled so you can find things quickly. I like that they offer classes and tastings. Who doesn't want to be educated on liquor!
What's okay about Total Wines & More? Prices are okay, so to me the value is just okay. Most wines or spirits that I purchase are not the cheapest and Discount Liquor is closer so really no value to go out of my way.

Now the bad (again, this is my opinion and you may not agree with me). Customer Service is not good, actually I really haven't seen customer service here. Let's compare to Discount Liquor again. Discount Liquor is not the bubbly over the top customer service but they great you and as you are walking around, if an employee is near, they ask you if you need help or if you have found everything you need. Simple question but it is nice. I have yet to have anyone approach me as I spent on average 30 minutes per visit to Total Wines & More. Even the checkout lanes the person is just average at best. As for knowledge... I can't compare as I have never been approached and I never see many people on the floor. At Discount Liquor, I am approached, I usually tell them what I am looking for and if they don't have it, they talk about other choices and give me background on those alternatives. They ask questions. So above, I still give TW&M an NA for Knowledge just to be fair.

In summary, has TW&M moved the needle enough in the customer value proposition to make me go out of my way to shop there? Not really. But if you are not close to a Discount Liquor then TW&M should be your choice if you are looking for variety and selection. Perhaps after more visits the customer service rating will go up....

I'm new to Wisconsin. I came here with zero knowledge about what life is like here or what the area has to offer. The family I'm house- and pet-sitting for praised Brookfield as a great place to shop and dine, so I decided to check it out.

Not surprisingly, I therefore came across this wine store through a Yelp search of my immediate surroundings. The positive reviews about the selection and price made Total Wine & More an easy choice for my wine shopping.

I'm a picky drinker, so I like a varied inventory. Immediately upon entering Total Wine & More, I knew I'd be in there for awhile. It's a big store, so the selection is indeed massive. To add to the fact that the store is large and therefore capable of carrying a large selection of wines, I was impressed that this store doesn't simply fill 90% of their shelf space with California wines. While it makes sense for a company to stock its shelves according to what's popular, the biggest disappointment for me is to walk into a wine store and ONLY see what's currently "trending", or a very small selection otherwise. I often feel that those who prefer less "trendy" wines are forgotten about during a company's ordering process, but I didn't feel this way at Total Wine & More.

Even the pickiest of drinkers should be able to find something here that suits their palate. For example, I consider South Africa to be a perpetually underrated wine region. Because South African wines don't exactly fly off the shelves, a lot of stores simply choose not to carry them. I consider it a treat when I walk into a store that has more than one South African white available. I'm not surprised when I walk into a store and there are zero South African wines. Total Wine & More had 6 or 7 South African whites, along with a variety of reds (I don't drink red wine, thanks to my tendency to get migraines, so I can't elaborate too much on that).

Another wine I can't find in every store is Gavi. Total Wine & More has several.

Moreover, I feel like I've won the lottery if I walk into a store and they carry Picpoul de Pinet. Well, this store only has one, but at least it has one. (I wouldn't mind if they carried more, but I digress...)

Additionally, the store carries wines from countless regions - New Zealand, Australia, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Chile, Argentina, and more...and yes...California. Tonight, I purchased a bottle of Bulgarian wine, which speaks to the expansiveness of the store's inventory. They also carry locally-made wines. I was like a kid in a candy store during the hour I spent browsing the aisles.

I can only assume that the variety of liquors, beers, and red wines is comparably expansive to that of the white wines. If I'm wrong, please correct me (like I said, I'm a picky drinker: I know what I know, and that's it).

The prices are fantastic! In all fairness, I just moved to Wisconsin from New York City. One of my favorite wines, which sells for $14.99 in NYC, was labeled for less than $11 here. Naturally, geography has something to do with this - everything is more expensive in New York (except for manicures, as I learned today), because it's marked up higher, and because the sales tax is higher (to the tune of .08755555, non-terminating decimal - in other words, 9%). Either way, I'm thrilled about this. To further benefit the customer, they run a special that lowers the cost of your wine if you buy six bottles out of a vast selection that qualify for the reduced price (mix 'n match).

The employees at this store were friendly and helpful. They were happy to assist me with my typical long list of bizarre and complicated questions (I'm far from a wine expert, but I'm on a never-ending quest to learn more). Two floor employees (one in training) were happy to lead me to the wines I was looking for, and the cashier was equally as pleasant.

Wow, this place is huge.

Lots of wine options but also everything else. On this occasion we got a great deal on patron. We also got a few sixes of cider boys. We got some local beer and wine as well since we are from out of state.

The staff here were super and really helped us find everything we were looking for. I would definitely come again.