Armanetti's -- gone

Armanettis also has to compete with cardinal which seemed to have bought a few armanettis

 

Armanetti's is gone because it was poorly run. Evolution has a much better infrastructure in place and knows how to treat it's customers. As for the beer section, last I checked Rome wasn't built in a day. Evolution has spent $15 grand on beer in two weeks. I know this because I am the beer buyer. I can't back order every bomber from the last year, so I have to slowly build back our bomber section. We already are recieving rare stone beers, 3 floyds, dogfish head and many more. If you are smart you will patron the shop now and get to know the new (and in my case old) staff, because when fall and winter roll around don't expect to be at the front of the line for all the rare beers. Those go to people who have and will always support the best local beer shop in Chicago. If you want to know more about what beers we are receiving weekly follow on twitter @beerevolutionlv for all he latest.

 

Cool, I know not to visit this location for rare beers then!

 

Am I the only one who thought this sounded a little bit like "If you want the good stuff, you'd better start buying from us now... or else..."

Might as well have just re-hired Steve to continue working there...

 

<Driving up Lincoln, passing Belmont>

Hmmmm...which bottle shop should I go to to get a bomber for this warm summer evening?

<Reads post at stoplight>
<Glances at Evolution storefront>
<Makes left on Addison on way to West Lakeview Liquors>

 

Wait, I am really confused.... especially after following all the crazy Steve stories and insane yelp reviews.

Are you trying to encourage people on BA to shop at your store or are you trying to make sure they don't? I think you were just very successful at accomplishing the latter.

 

Wow, great first post. To think I thought this place might be worth a try now.

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/evolution-wines-and-spirits-chicago#hrid:sQcXABeWaZGrHLPxBiqRqg

This shit's too easy...

 

LOL @ RonSwanson, sometimes jerks are their own worst enemy and they can never figure out why.

 

The king is dead... Long live the king!

 

Wow, this didn't take long AT ALL. LOL

The ironic thing is that he's just saying stuff other BA's have said... get to know your liquor guy & frequent the store, to get the best chance at rare stuff. I guess the difference is, coming from the store itself, it sounds like blackmail.

 

I think the difference is one of philosophy and/or motivation, like why you don't pay your kids for getting good grades: putting in the effort to succeed and better oneself should be the motivation, not the monetary reward. Here, the idea is to frequent a particular store, get to know the beer guy, not just so that you have a better shot at limited releases, but because it's just a better way to participate in a great community of beer enthusiasts. I know I prefer the regular customers that come across as excited about all sorts of beers, rather than the ones that show up often just to see if certain Easter eggs are hidden on my shelves or in my warehouse.

Let me finish with this nugget: Hunter-gatherer societies folded in the face of farming societies and their continued, careful cultivation of the soil...

 

I agree wholeheartedly with getting to know the employee's at your local shop - only good tings came come of that sort of close-knit relationship. I'm hoping maybe it was just a poorly worded statement from Mr. Swanson...

 

Wow.

 

Didn't just sound a bit like it, pretty much what he said. Great way to drum up more early business! Yikes.

 

The basic of RonSwanson is saying is here is a chance to get in on the ground floor, help Evolution build the craft beer section you want to see. Evolution took its lumps in our Bucktown store for a completely botched management of a rare beer release and rightfully so. It was improperly managed, had too many people on the back end trying to keep too many people happy with not a lot of beer.

The absolute best way to judge the store is not via words on a forum but to stop by over the next couple months, witness the selection grow, experience the customer service for yourself, and go from there. We are under no illusion that we can make everyone happy, but we do believe we are here to serve a wide market of people as best we can. We accept all feedback and will work to address the concerns of our beer customers. There is a lot of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt in all of this so if you want clarification, feel free to reach out to any of our stores and we will do our best to clarify.

When rare releases come our way in our three stores, we are going to do our best to make sure they get sold as fairly as possible. One of the best ways of getting a heads up on our beers is to follow beerevolutionlv or evolutionwines on Twitter or friend Evolution Wines on Facebook. The debate over wording or sentiment can continue, but the only way to resolve it, truly resolve it, is to experience the reality of it for yourself.

 

I understand and agree that the best way to judge an establishment (store, bar, restaurant, etc.) is to experience it first hand.

That said, you would have to agree that it is foolish from a marketing and customer relations standpoint to post a standoffish, defensive and inflammatory response in a thread about the store that your business bought out who had a standoffish, defensive, inflammatory dick of an owner. Add that to the already bad press associated with the other store and you should understand where people are coming from.

All you needed to say "We are still building our inventory, please stop in and let us know what you would like to see".

 

I'm one of those people that had a bad experience at Armenetti's (my review is here), and was very interested in this thread. I was floored by the post from RobSwanson (beer buyer at the new Evolution?) He just told us that the new ownership should be as bad as the old. At least we've been warned.

 

Ok, you know what you do? You buy yourself a tape recorder and just record yourself for a whole day. I think you're gonna be surprised...

 

Interesting to see this (rather old) post getting some updated attention - I've only been in Evolution twice and I thought it wasn't too bad, albeit a bit pricey and lacking in inventory at the time of my visits.

No customer service issues in my limited sample to report. Is there any reason to think that there are issues? (Judging from the posts above, there may be?)