Specialty Retailer Opens Wine-Storage Facility in Honolulu

Vintage Wine Cellar has converted a former video store next to its specialty wine outlet in Honolulu into a wine-storage facility. Vintage Wine Vault is a self-storage concept comprising 1,600 square feet in more than 70 lockers, with capacities ranging from 27 to 350 cases, according to the source.

The storage business is in the basement of the building, with customers given access to their own storage space. “There have been other such concepts, but nobody has done it like us,” Jay Kam, president, told the source. “At other places, you had to call to pick up and drop off wines. They would put it in storage for you.”

The facility is temperature- and humidity-controlled, and has redundant compressors. It’s also equipped with technology features and security, according to the source.

The specialty wine retailer decided to expand into storage to serve its customer base of casual and serious connoisseurs, who have expressed the need for storage space outside their homes. “A lot of customers say they can’t buy anymore wine because of the lack of space,” Kam said. “People who have wine cellars at their homes—it’s not a question of if they’ll break, but when they’ll break.” Most wine cellars in Hawaii last about seven years, he said.

Vintage Wine Cellar, established in 1968, is in the basement of a commercial building on Wilder Avenue.