RIP

Sam’s Wines & Spirits, locked in a decades-long rivalry with Skokie-based Binny’s Beverage Depot, ended with news that Binny’s is buying Sam’s. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Chicago Tribune first reported the sale late Thursday.

“It makes sense for them to try and create a unified chain,” said Neil Stern, a partner at Chicago retail consultancy McMillan Doolittle LLP. “Both had been trying to expand, but the evidence is out there that Binny’s had been more successful in expanding its footprint.”

Binny’s had $200 million in revenue in fiscal 2008 and has doubled in size to 22 locations over the last nine years. Its strategy has mixed opening new shops with buying smaller rivals, including Willowbrook-based DiCarlo’s Armanetti Fine Wines & Liquors in 2005 and Zimmerman’s Liquors on the Near North Side in 2000.

Sam’s, which had $65 million in 2008 sales, is down to two stores: its original location in Lincoln Park and a shop in Downers Grove. Both will be converted to Binny’s, sources said. Sam’s closed its South Loop location in August and its Highland Park store last month.

The two family businesses, which in the early 1990s talked briefly of merging, have been rivals since both were founded in the 1940s. Over the years they’ve both seen increased competition from other retailers like Washington-based Costco, whose deep discounts on wine and booze lure many price-conscious consumers, especially during a recession.

Tags: wine shops

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