Wine Outlet

As Richard Kinssies knows, it's the individual steps you take in life that build into a larger whole. Everything he's done since he started working in the wine industry in 1973 has led him to where he is today. And it's a pretty good place to be.

Richard at Interbay store

Richard owns Wine Outlet with retail wine stores in SoDo (2005) and Interbay (2007) and Greenlake Wines + Wine Bar (2010). "Most independent wine retailers have a passion that is reflected in their store. It usually fills a niche, like Washington wine, or wine with a 90+ Parker rating," says Richard. "My niche is deals. Wine is a commodity like anything else. I find deals world-wide and pass those savings on to my customers."

Navigating through the wine laws that have been in place since Prohibition isn't always easy. Richard finds distributors, wineries and importers who have wine they need to move. He takes all their wine at a low price, usually 50% off market value, and they officially call it a close-out (part of the legal restrictions). "I can sometimes retail wine far below what other retailers are buying it for at wholesale prices, including Costco and Trader Joe's. It's all about relationships. I know a lot of people after being in the business for 38 years."

Prior to 1969, there were no wine shops in Washington. They started appearing in 1970 after laws were changed. "A group of people opened a wine store called Papa John's in Park Rowe, Bellevue, in 1973. They asked me to manage it. We grew to six stores and I managed all of them." He left to become the first sommelier in Washington state, working in restaurants and wine programs until 1980.

In 1980, Safeway decided to sell fine wines which had never been done before. They hired Richard and he worked out of the University Village store. "This is where I got the inspiration for Wine Outlet," he explains. "A wholesaler would come into the store and say ‘I need your help moving this wine.' I'd buy the wine for a low price and then price it lower than anyone else. It just blew out of the store and virtually changed the industry. At that time, wine store margins were 50%. Safeway's was 30%. That store became one of the highest-grossing wine stores in the country, and the standard margin moved to 30% where it still is today." It also changed grocery wine sales: fine wine didn't exist in grocery stores. "I had to use all my influence and threats to get wineries to sell wine to me," laughs Richard. "They thought it would demean their wine."

In 1982, while at Safeway, Richard started the Seattle Wine School, which still exists today. He trains consumers, wine/food professionals, restaurants and people in the wholesale/retail wine trade through seminars and classes on a wide variety of topics. He also started his writing career in the early 80s as a feature writer for Wine News and a weekly columnist for the Seattle PI, where he became the longest running columnist in a major market in the U.S.—27 years. He had a monthly column in Seattle Magazine, a bi-weekly column in Argus, an arts publication, and a monthly column in Eastside Guide. In addition, he had a radio program on Classic KING and a pre-recorded three-minute radio show twice a day, six days a week, for seven years.

From 1996-1999, he and a partner, Bob Branom, owned and operated Vina, a restaurant and wine bar in Belltown. "Despite the knife fights and people sleeping in the doorway, I knew that would be a hot area. And it was, right after we left," laughs Richard.

He created a curriculum and taught at Seattle Central Community College's Culinary Academy from 2000-2004. He also created a Wine Professional Certification program for the Washington Wine Commission, training people state-wide in the hospitality industry on wine basics. The program ended just as he was opening the first Wine Outlet.

In 2004, he thought about the Safeway concept again. "I took the idea to people I knew and trusted and asked why I shouldn't do it. No one came up with an argument against it. My plan was to gather some partners who would help me be the Sonny Kobe Cook of wine, all over TV and in the newspaper. I wanted to open in SoDo because all roads lead there—manufacturing and shipping. I was having trouble finding a large enough space. Eventually I had an epiphany that if I did this on my own without partners, I could do it my way, just without TV ads. I went into the equity on my home and opened a 600 square foot space in a rickety old building in SoDo. In three months, I was debt free. Two years later, I bought the building on Elliott and opened there."

At Interbay, Richard added a wine-bar style seating area that he rents out to groups for their events. He will cater or they can bring their own caterer. There is a full kitchen. The Seattle Wine School has taken up residence on the second floor and there is a roof-top deck with sink and barbecue he uses for his or private events. He has held dinners in the wine store, built furniture and a wall out of wooden wine boxes and lamps out of wine bottles.

Greenlake Wines + Wine Bar is a slightly different take on Wine Outlet. "I wanted to open in a neighborhood, but it had to be more than retail. We offer high-quality, simple food that I make myself. I bake bread every day, make hummus, toast and season pecans—they're all my own recipes. Our customers get a great neighborhood space with Wine Outlet deals." Greenlake Wines also has an outdoor seating area.

Connie Adams/October 2011