Proposed New Wine Shop

A large new wine shop is being proposed, to be located in one of the empty suites within the Roberts complex on the corner of Rampart and Elysian Fields. Since this will require conditional use, the operator must host a community meeting to hear concerns and answer questions. This is that meeting. If you have questions or concerns, I encourage you to attend. They have not started a build-out, so the reaction from the neighborhood may carry some weight in their final decision.

 

Yes, I have feelings about it. Yes, these are people I already know. And yes, I've spoken with them about my concern, which is the 1/2-mile proximity to both Faubourg Wines and Grande Krewe. In response, they expressed a very rosy, fuzzy view that everything will somehow just work out fine. I hope they are right! However, it doesn't seem very logical.

 

While I would love to have wine shops on every block, our little neighborhood has neither the population density nor the demographics to support a third specialty wine retailer- let alone one that will be larger than both of the existing ones (2600sf). 

 

When I pointed this out, they didn't deny it. My sense is that they are well-aware of the over-saturation they are creating, and they just don't want to say it out loud.