Wooden Boxes – Maybe They’re Not So Bad

Originally published on August 19, 2011.

One of my most popular posts ever was a rant on wooden wine boxes. I had a theory that while most people start out thinking these boxes are the coolest things going, the longer you work in retail, the more you grow to loath them.

I arrived at the ‘Utter Contempt’ phase years ago, so these days my enjoyment of wooden boxes is limited to putting them out on the sidewalk and doing a staff poll on how long they’ll stick around. It’s not long – usually under five minutes. Once, we had two boxes sit on the sidewalk for an entire 20 minutes – but that was because monsoon-type wine started to pour the minute we put them outside. The second the rain stoped, the boxes, waterlogged and all, disappeared.

So yes, I am not a big fan of wooden wine boxes….until yesterday. Some of the love came back when I spotted this urban box garden in front of a nearby restaurant. It’s cool enough – and simple enough – that I may go back to keeping the boxes for myself.

Frankly Wines box scavengers, be warned – the glory days may be over!