WineStyles

WineStyles Tasting Station is a neighborhood wine and craft beverage concept that combines a boutique retail shop with an on‑premise tasting bar. Guests can purchase bottles to take home, enjoy wines by the glass, explore rotating craft beers and select spirits, and order light bites in a relaxed setting. Stores also sell gourmet foods and gift items, creating a one‑stop shop for entertaining, casual nights out, and everyday occasions.

The brand began in 2002, when the original WineStyles store opened in Coralville, Iowa. From the start, the concept focused on helping everyday shoppers feel more comfortable with wine by merchandising bottles by “style” rather than by grape or region. Over the next several years the franchise grew across the country, and later evolved into WineStyles Tasting Station, adding on‑premise consumption, regular tastings, and a broader mix of beer and gourmet products. A key milestone came in 2012, when Des Moines‑area franchisees Bryan and Andrea McGinness purchased the franchising company, relocated the headquarters to West Des Moines, and began reshaping the system around tastings, clubs, and deeper neighborhood engagement.

As of March 2024, WineStyles Tasting Station operates 13 franchised locations across eight states: Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, and Virginia. During roughly the last five years, the company has focused on refining the Tasting Station model, strengthening franchise support, and steadily rebuilding its footprint with a controlled, selective approach. That expansion has concentrated on filling out existing states and entering similar mid‑sized and suburban markets where wine and craft beer concepts perform well as part of a daily‑needs and dining mix.

For real estate owners and brokers, WineStyles functions as a small‑format, experience‑driven tenant that typically fits into inline or end‑cap space, often with patio seating where available. Units tend to generate evening and weeknight traffic through wine and beer clubs, regular tastings, and private or semi‑private events, which can complement restaurants and other neighborhood retailers in suburban centers, lifestyle projects, and walkable downtown districts. The franchised structure, modest square footage, and flexible build‑out allow the brand to adapt to a range of second‑generation restaurant or retail spaces while offering a differentiated social use that helps keep centers active after work hours.

The company remains independently owned and franchisor‑driven, with site decisions made collaboratively between local franchisees and the corporate team in West Des Moines. Current development efforts prioritize Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska, with an eye toward suburban and neighborhood‑oriented retail centers where a wine and craft beer gathering spot can serve as a repeat‑visit anchor for the surrounding mix.