Total Wine flexes muscle in Houston’s spirited spirits battle

By Andrea Rumbaugh

Total Wine & More is taking over two Houston-area Goody Goody liquor stores as the Maryland-based company continues its aggressive growth and goes head-to-head with local stalwart Spec’s.

Goody Goody spokesman Armando Gonzalez said Total Wine approached his company about the deal. He described it as “an offer that we couldn’t refuse” and said it would have been “a miserable experience for everybody” if Total Wine instead opened a location across the street.

“Total has such deep pockets. If they wanted that location, they would have found a way to start a location there,” said D. Christopher Taylor, director of the Beverage Management Program at the University of Houston’s Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

The Goody Goody store in Houston’s Copperfield Village Shopping Center closed over the weekend and is expected to reopen as Total Wine on or around Thursday. Another Goody Goody store in Humble will close June 3, and it will reopen as Total Wine on or around June 8. They will both undergo renovations.

“Houston has very sophisticated wine, beer and spirit lovers,” said Total Wine spokesman Edward Cooper. “That works out terrifically for us.”

Some of the employees are being transferred to other Goody Goody locations, and Total Wine hired others for its new stores. All employees were offered a job if they wanted one.

Goody Goody will have two Houston-area stores remaining, and it is looking to open others. Total Wine, after taking over the leases, will have grown to eight Houston-area stores within a year of opening its first area location.

“Total Wine has been marketing their entry to Houston very, very aggressively and effectively,” said Kenneth Katz, principal at retail brokerage and development firm Baker Katz.

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