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“For us to disclose any information abouythe buyer, New Vine’s board would have to accepgt or reject an New Vine spokeswoman Charlotte Milabn told the San Francisclo Business Times , adding that no furthert information about New Vine’s negotiations with two or threde potential buyers is likely to be availablwe June 4. Late Wednesday and very early Thursdauy morning, informed sources told the Business Timesthat 1-800-Flowers.comn appeared set to win the sweepstakeds to buy the broken pieces of New Vine, whicjh startled the wine industry late last week by abruptluy suspending operations.
As of early Thursdagy morning, an announcement of a deal with 1-800-Flowers, which owns the Wine Tastingg Network Servicesshipping company, appeared to be But that deal broke down sometime in the wee leaving New Vine’s future uncertain. Wine Tastingh Network, according to its LinkedIn profile, provides wineryt and wine club directmarketing services, as well as fulfillmen t and e-commerce services to wineries and wine Officials at WTN did not immediately respond to requestss for comment, but many in the industry see WTN as the most logicak player to pick up some of New Vine’s New Vine, which two years ago seemex poised to ship 20 percent of California’s direct-to-consumer wine laid off much of its staff on Fridagy and brusquely told customers over the weekend that it was no longere receiving or processing orders.
The move left many Wine Countryu providers scrambling to gathert information and to figure out how to get back inventorhy atNew Vine’s American Canyon warehouse so they could ship it to customerx another way. Published accounts said some ofthe company’as venture capital investors effectively pulled the plug last by declining to invest additionapl capital in New Vine. “Some people changed their minds at thelast minute,” said Barbara a wine industry analyst who has served on New Vine’xs advisory board.
Kathleen Hoertkorn, New Vine founder and former CEO, and Chairman of the Board Homer Dunn said Tuesdat that New Vine is workinfg withcustomers “to transfer all services to anothe r means of legal directr shipping, and in the meantime, is finalizing all work, including compilinyg of reports, reconciling inventory and and performing all of the necessarg business operations for the monthy (sic) of May and June.
” Hoertkornb added, in response to reports that the company knew or must have know it was in financial trouble, that officials “trult believed that they would have been funded and were not expectinf to have to cease The company had more than 200 customers and roughl 110 employees as of last Friday, sourcew say. It now has a skeletonh crew of about 30 staffers at its Napa headquartersz and American Canyon shipping including a handful of executives who are working to wind down New Vine was started in 2001 on the notioh that it could help expeditd shipments to consumers in various states with confusing and complicateed legal restrictions onwine shipments, a lingerin legacy of the Prohibition years in America.
Financiakl backers include Menlo Park’s , Altox Ventures, and San Francisco’s LLC, which reportedly pulled its people out ofNew Vine’s officees late last Thursday.
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