Chief Stores Officer Robert Hammack, left, watches store manager John West cut the ribbon to officially open the Total Wine & More at Potomac Yard Nov. 10. Also in attendance are Mayor Justin Wilson, Total Wine District Manager Michael Whatley, vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, and council members Canek Aguirre and Amy Jackson.
A beer vendor pours a sample for a customer at the Nov. 10 grand opening of the Potomac Yard Total Wine & More.
Located at 3901 Richmond Highway, the Potomac Yard location is the second in Alexandria for the wine and beverage superstore following the West End location on Little River Turnpike.
“This is our 227th store and second here in Alexandria,” said Matt Indre, senior manager of public affairs for Total Wine & More. “We are in 27 states and last year alone we partnered with over 13,000 local charities.”
Founded in 2012, Together We Bake is a workforce training and personal development program for underserved and underrepresented women. The program uses the food service industry to teach women marketable job skills, provide hands-on experience and help them gain self-confidence to achieve self-sufficiency.
During its opening weekend, Total Wine & More donated 10 percent of its wine sales to Together We Bake.
“Total Wine is very active in supporting the communities where they are located.”
— Together We Bake founder Stephanie Wright
“Total Wine is very active in supporting the communities where they are located,” said Together We Bake founder Stephanie Wright. “They had heard about Together We Bake and what we were doing and wanted to give us some support. We are very grateful to them for reaching out to us.”
Customers learn about wines during the grand opening of Total Wine & More Nov. 10 at Potomac Yard.
The 18,000 square-foot property is the former home of Pier 1 Imports, which closed in early 2020. The grand opening event featured wine and beer tastings, live music, gift bags and local food.
Total Wine & More carries wine, beer, cigars and accessories. Wine samplings are conducted Thursdays-Saturdays. Typical locations carry more than 8,000 different wines from around the world as well as more than 2,500 beers. The Potomac Yard location includes specialty beers from Alexandria’s Port City Brewing.
“Together We Bake is an integral part of the Alexandria community,” Indre said. “They do special work in providing an education and jobs to less fortunate women. We believe in their mission of empowering women and are glad they accepted our offer to partner during our opening weekend.”