K&L Wine Merchants Opens First East Coast Store in Manhattan

K&L Wine Merchants, the family-owned wine and spirits retailer founded in California in 1976, has opened its first East Coast store at 270 Madison Avenue. The store occupies the former Park Avenue Liquors space, a specialty wine and spirits business with roots dating to 1934 and acquired by K&L in early 2026.

The expansion follows six consecutive quarters of wine sales growth for K&L, even as much of the U.S. wine industry continues to navigate declining consumption, pricing pressure, and shifting demand.

With four California stores, a national e-commerce business, the most active wine & spirits auction platform by bids and users, and now a New York location, K&L is betting that the category’s next phase will be driven by more selective consumers seeking value, access, and expert guidance.

"There's a lot more demand out there than the headlines suggest. Customers haven't lost interest in wine, they've gotten more deliberate about it, and that's something retailers can work with," said Brian Zucker, CEO of K&L Wine Merchants. "Wine's bigger problem was where prices went leading into COVID and during the consumption spike that followed. That's working itself out now. We've seen significant growth in wine in each of the last six quarters, and it's accelerating."