Wine.com gets into logistics

Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 10:20 am

By Jeff Quackenbush, Business Journal Staff Reporter

SAN FRANCISCO – Large Internet wine retailer Wine.com today announced it has started a direct-to-consumer logistics service through its Berkeley warehouse.

The new division, called Wine.com Logistics, offers warehousing, pick-and-pack, shipping and call-center support for wine clubs and daily orders, according to the company. Wineries would retain ownership of the wine, which would be kept separate from wine purchased by Wine.com for Internet sales.

The company has been looking at a move into providing winery-to-consumer shipments for a while, according to Chief Executive Officer Rich Bergsund.

“Wine.com Logistics is a natural extension of our core business,” he said.

Overseeing the new division are Mike Osborn, founder of Wine.com and vice president of merchandising, and David Do, vice president of operations. The current San Francisco-based iteration of Wine.com started as eVineyard in 1998 and acquired certain assets of Napa-based startups Wine.com and WineShopper.com out of foreclosure in 2001.

The launch of the logistics division comes just days after major Napa-based order-fulfiller New Vine, which also started in 2001 with certain Wine.com technology, resumed shipments June 12 with an undisclosed capital infusion from Napa-based Inertia Beverage Group. New Vine had suspended shipments June 1 amid financial problems the company attributed to efforts in recent months to set up wine shipments for mega e-tailer Amazon.com.