PLCB Wine & Spirits Store

Staff is outright RUDE!!! I wish there were privatized liquor stores because this place would never make it. Needless to say I won’t be shopping here anymore

Granted I only spent 15 minutes in the store but the experience was great. They had a person passing out wine and crackers. The wine was cheap and check was relatively fast. No complaints about the place.

Don’t listen to the haters junk. This spot is the shot. Good front is true. Most folks round this center city area are uptight so I assume the other staff is either center city peoples or suburbs. Good selection and all. Please don’t privatize. If it was not the for the huge homeless issue round these ways it would be great. But that’s what it is around these ways. That’s why I live in the neighborhoods.

There’s a good selection here. A sales associate directed me to what I was looking for. The wait in the line was short — another cashier opened up a register so that I wouldn’t wait for the person in front of me.
The bad — just like other reviewers I got harassed while at the store. I was in the checkout lane (AKA inside the store) and some lady had some prepaid visa card. She did the classic Philly and told me that there was $ 18 on the card & if I bought her something I could get $ 10. I had to tell her no a couple of times. The store employees just ignored her as if this was just a part of operating business that they had to deal with.

As someone who is not a native Pennsylvanian, I totally understand the intense hatred that people have toward the PLCB. But this is one of those «When life hands you lemons…» situations. This particular store has probably the best wine selection of any PA state store. I imagine that’s primarily because the wine manager here knows his stuff. If you don’t feel like driving to NJ or DE to smuggle wine back across the border, go here.

The best of the state stores in the area with an extended wine selection.
Good store, not my favorite block in the area… so the clientele is mixed between after-​work office folks from the are and homeless /​near-​homeless types that can make you a tad uncomfortable. The staff is generally nice (and competent). The selection, while still PA-​limited, is better than at most state stores, with an extended wine section at the back of the store… including a number of very good selections at reasonable prices. One warning, however… beware the PLCB specials… they advertise them versus regular pricing for the items available, but they are «special select» items, meaning they don’t have compararables… Google it and you’ll find several articles explaining PA’s unique sourcing system for their PLCB specials… still some good deals available, but don’t be fooled by the head-​to-​head comparisons they offer in the store.

This store is a classic example of why I’m looking forward to the privatization of liquor stores in PA. Horrible customer service, long lines, high prices and a lack luster selection.

As one of the only Wine & Spirits «superstores» in center city, this place has a choke hold on my business and usually meets my needs.
It is a large store with a decent amount of space in the aisles. The stock is as good as you’ll find just about anywhere in PA — that is to say, not very — but they are rarely out of items that are normally carried.
The staff is highly variable, but largely gruff and unimpressive. Their wine manager seems exceptionally knowledgeable, but is more than a little condescending in his personal manner. The store manager is quite friendly and helpful. There are two cashiers who are extremely friendly, and they stand out in STARK contrast to the rest.
As the biggest liquor store in town, this location often draws a big crowd — especially on Friday evenings and the eves of drinking holidays. They usually manage the crowds well. More often than not, an assembled crowd of panhandlers outside the store will ask you for «a little money to get something to eat» on your way in and out, but that is par for the course in glorious Philadelphia. At least this liquor store doesn’t actually allow them to come panhandle inside.

Decent wine selection but worst customer service ever. No hellos or thank yous. One cashier actually yelled at me for changing lines so loudly entire store looked. I will take my business to the other city W&SS, where staff is nicer. Someone needs to fire that ignorant cashier’s ass before she drives all the customers away

You’re going to get two things with this review. First, a review of the store and staff and the other my take on the controversy of ending the state store system. It’s my take — so, you can agree or not, it really doesn’t matter.
As a liquor store, it’s adequate in its stock. Has most things, not all things. Certainly not up to some of the independent stores in Delaware, etc. There are people on staff who seem to be really good at customer service and others who seem to really care less. I did have a good experience with a young woman who works there on a recent visit– when I asked her about a certain product, she went back without being asked and printed out a list of their stores who DO carry the item. Nice.
Usually, I just get followed around by the security guy as if he thinks I’m going to pocket a handle of cheap vodka.
As for the system, 95% of the clerks I’ve been around in these stores have little knowledge about wine and/​or spirits. So, I don’t buy the argument that they should be protected and keep the much higher than average salaries. I’d be okay with it if these folks were trained to be wine and spirit experts in line with their salaries. They simply are NOT trained like this. No expectation at all, it would seem. So, if they’re going to act like entry level cashiers and stockers, I’m fine with them being paid for that job. I say ditch the system. I support unions and I support fair pay, but I don’t support high pay for low/​no knowledge jobs. Let’s fix the system.

The staff was nice and very helpful. Unfortunately the PLCB is the problem. PA, you’ve got to take back control of alcohol sales. Despite more than adequate retail space, the selection of wine was only average. This is because of the overwhelming bias of the Chairmen Select offerings that have overrun PA Wine & Spirit stores. While you can get some great buys with Chairmen Select it does limit your selection. Chairmen Select wines take up valuable space as their presented in stacks of boxes as if they’re to be sold in bulk. I was looking for a number of wines that I couldn’t find. The 2011 Belle Glos Meiomi was available at a price of $ 21 for which I paid $ 16 in Charlotte the week before.

This store is all right. It’s not well organized & doesn’t have the best selection, but it’s still a place to buy wine.

Nice selection, the workers are pretty nice and quick, but bottom line it is still a PA stat store, so don’t expect anything crazy.
At some point they will come into the modern world and sell both beer and wine/​liquor in the same store :)

Sadly this is the biggest and best of center city proper.
It serves its purpose I can generally find my favorite wines and sometimes they surprise me with some George Dickel or Michter’s in the whiskey department.
The folks who work there haven’t a clue. So, don’t go in there if you haven’t one either. Once you have exited here head to grocery on the corner of 13^th and chestnut for some fun mixers, they sell the margarita mix from lolita

Although I’m not a fan of the beer distributors VS the PLCB «Wine & Spirits» store (more shopping, more time, less convenience) — I am usually taken back by the ease of shopping inside the PLCB stores. Everything’s nicely laid out, and there are always good sales happening — if you shop/​buy at the right times. If you’re lucky, there’s frequently samples too. I also recently forgot my ID at home, but luckily PA doesn’t absolutely require seeing an ID to purchase. Obviously, I don’t have much of a choice but to continue shopping at the PLCB stores!

Due to the close proximity of this store to my office, I generally have no choice but to shop here due the state’s monopoly on booze.
This store gets one star because of the relatively robust chairman’s selections, otherwise it would get a negative star. The selection of scotch/​bourbon is quite weak. The staff are relatively useless, except for ringing up my purchase as slowly as possible without any modicum of congeniality. The store seems to be excessively staffed, but somehow there is always long lines around quitting time (5pm). I don’t understand why they have so many innactive registers and staff for that matter when the store is busy.
What also really disgusts me about this location is the fact that they continue to sell alcohol to completely wasted down-​on-​their-​luck vagrants. If a person can barely stand and is slurring, they don’t need another bottle of vodka.
This store is a prime example of why we all should support the privatization of liquor sales in PA. We deserve better service and selections, and the unionized employees should not be rewarded for poor performance.

This is the «big-​momma» state store on Chestnut — that is packed to the gills with both product and patrons — especially on a Thursday or Friday evening in spring/​summer.
Wow. The lines were so long you’d think they were giving it away!
I got my chilled Prosecco and out the door to Kanella I ske-​daddled.
Thank goodness they were here.

After years of listening to my father gripe about how much he hated the holidays he spent working for the PLCB* I was amazed at how friendly the staff was when I stopped in this week. I was looking for the elusive, perfect bottle of wine for the picky Pinot Grigio drinker on my «agh, must buy them something for Christmas» list.
I don’t know anything about Pinot Grigio so I called up my boyfriend and forced him to do some emergency Googling. Apparently, there’s not much you want to know about Pinot Grigio if you’re a wine snob; it’s described as «innocuous and uninteresting,» (
). Don’t worry Pinot Grigio fans, the author of that story goes on to defend it.
Anyway, he rattled off a couple of obscure sounding bottles («Look for the 2005 Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio Trentino Riserva»). After asking him to spell out the names of these randoms for ten minutes, I hung up. I sighed. I wandered around the store, amazed by the entirely too large selection. I caved and asked an employee for help. They helped. I walked out and caught the bus right as it pulled up to the corner. Success.
*I have to note that my dad is allowed to gripe, seeing as he worked for the PLCB for 35 years.

I’m torn between giving 5 stars based on my first two visits or 1 star based on a request by phone to PLCB. If it were based on my first and second experience, I would give 5 stars. They stock a very hard to find collectible wine that I’ve had for nearly twenty years. (I won’t give the name because then you’ll buy it and it’ll be even harder to find!)
Every single person in the store said hello to me; something that I NEVER experience in Center City, no matter where I shop! I was directed to exactly where my wine was stocked. The shelves were clean, the wine was placed where I’d expect each to be and the selection seems vast. More than finding my wine, I was so happy to be greeted by the staff and made to feel like a valued customer.
My other interaction was by phone and that was a different experience all together. The guy who answered the phone was short with me, didn’t know what I was asking for and kept me on hold for over 10 minutes. I actually thought about hanging up but I’m just too anal to give up when I feel like someone is hoping that I’ll hang up instead of having to assist me! So, when he finally came back to tell me that my wine was not in stock yet, I asked when it would be and his reply was «I don’t know. It just comes in when it comes in.» Certainly, you could have asked someone in charge of inventory, couldn’t you Mr. Grumpy? In fact, with the amount of time I was on hold, I would have expected that you explored all avenues to answer my question before returning to the phone.
Here’s a word of advice for any employer: In today’s bad economy, you cannot afford to have someone on staff who can lose you even one sale. You also cannot afford the luxury of someone thinking they’re doing you a favor by working for you yet not doing you justice by their rotten attitude or indifference to customers. Peer rating sites like Unilocal and City Search are very powerful tools for today’s consumers and they can easily influence if people spend their money with you. What if every store owner fired every employee who didn’t live up to the expectation of customer service for the place they work? There would be a lot more jobs available for those who really want to work!
OK, stepping down from my soapbox now…
Anyway, I have to split the difference here and give only four stars. Love the store and will certainly walk in to buy my wine in hopes that the jerk who answered the phone is no longer employed!

This store is quite large and has an excellent selection of both wine and spirits, though they seem to be out of sale items pretty often.
The spirits are not particularly well priced, but they have really good deals on CA wines, many of which are significantly cheaper than they are in CA! I was shocked at some of the prices. They remind me of Safeway half-​off specials. Since only the state can buy wine in PA, PLCB is one of the largest purchasers of wine in the world, and they recently figured out that they should get a discount for big advance purchases. Woohoo. The things that don’t come in under these deals are quite a bit higher than NJ and DE, but fine in a pinch. The staff are hit and miss, it is better to come already knowing what you want.
You would think they would sell mixers like soda water and tonic, but ya still gotta stop by the Pac A Deli around the corner for that. No one stop shopping in Philly. I still can’t believe they don’t carry beer.