Report: Amazon's wine business partner runs into trouble |
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Report: Amazon's wine business partner runs into trouble
Amazon.com's long-awaited foray into the wine business has apparently hit a snag. New Vine Logistics, the Napa Valley company Amazon picked to help it with shipping wine, "has suspended operations amid financial problems," the Wall Street Journal reports.
Reports from last September indicated Amazon was poised to begin selling bottles of wine online. The company had tapped New Vine Logistics to help it navigate the confusing patchwork of interstate wine sale laws. Since then, there's been no word on the fate of the Amazon wine program, and New Vine's troubles add another bit of uncertainty.
Amazon does sell wine through its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service, though the service is currently limited to the greater Seattle area. CEO Jeff Bezos, in a recent shareholder meeting, described Amazon Fresh as an "experiment" and gave no sign that it is expanding geographically, at least yet.
Update: New Vine Logistics issued a statement that reads:
New Vine Logistics is currently working with customers to transfer all services to another means of legal direct shipping, and in the meantime, is finalizing all work, including compiling of reports, reconciling inventory and invoices, and performing all of the necessary business operations for the months of May and June.
It also quotes New Vine founder Kathleen Hoertkorn as saying, "We deeply apologize for the situation, and we pledge to work with our customers to make as smooth and expedient shipping transition as possible." (Full text of New Vine statement was posted in the comments field below.)
New Vine spokeswoman Charlotte Milan had no comment on the company's work with Amazon.
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