Local wine tour company expands to Sonoma
Grapeline Wine Tours, operating in Paso Robles since 2004, announced plans this week to launch a new branch in Sonoma by next April. Within the next five years, the company plans to expand from its current three locations to at least six, and as many as twelve within the next decade. The company currently offers wine tasting tours in in two other California wine regions: Temecula Valley and Santa Barbara County.
“We’ve studied several promising wine regions, and settled on Sonoma for our next expansion,” said John Kelliher, co-founder of Grapeline. “The potential market is very strong, and despite heavy competition, we believe we have significant advantages in service delivery and marketing that will allow Grapeline to make quick inroads to Sonoma’s very established wine tour market.”
Since its inception, Grapeline’s goal was to expand into all suitable wine regions throughout the U.S., but in response to the 2008 onset of the economic recession, the company tabled all branch additions.
“We started Grapeline with the intention of growing to at least 10 branches, and maybe more than 25, depending on market conditions,” said Kelliher. “We launched three branches within our first five years, then slammed on the brakes when the economy stalled.”
“Now, all the economic indicators seem to be trending positive,” Kelliher continued. “After five years of modest growth, we’re seeing double-digit gains in all three of our branches. For Grapeline, it’s time to put the foot back on the accelerator.”
In response to its planned expansion, as well as organic growth, the company has invested in new equipment and personnel within the past six months. In December, Grapeline added two new custom touring coaches to its fleet. In addition to filling several front line positions, the company created two new management positions: one in marketing and one in human resources. This month it initiated a project to develop a new online reservation system and website that will facilitate around-the-clock bookings from all major mobile and desktop platforms.
Additional Wine Tours
Uncorked Wine Tours
724 Spring St, Ste A
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 459-4500
Paradise Limousine Co.
Paso Robles Wine Tour Company.
1785 Bella Vista Ct.
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 610-2724
Epic Limousine Service
681 S Vine St
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 423-6838
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