There’s something about the words “Wine-Finer Foods-Cigars” that, when rendered in billboard-sized proportions on the side of a big box retail building with freeway frontage, take on a certain irony that make me pause and think “ Postmodern America…” . And so on a sunshiny Memorial Day we ventured to Spec's, in the South Austin retail paradise known as Sunset Valley. Spec's is a Houston-based chain of liquor/specialty foods stores that has recently opened two locations in Austin, the first of which opened late last year near Highland Mall. With their south location they have really outdone themselves, converting the former Academy store into a booze and food megamart.

The scale of Spec’s is incomparable. It is a SPEC-tacle, you could say, though you probably shouldn’t.
Unfortunately, the selection at Spec’s is not directly proportionate to the square footage of the building. I would say that there is far too much floor space dedicated to crap like Plexiglas (!) wine buckets and those cheap-looking Italianesque ceramics. There are also the requisite over-the-top displays that define the big-box experience: a Jack Daniel’s Saloon, a Grey Goose golf cart, and some kind of scotch-themed sailboat. They don't appear to have done much in the way of de-Academizing the space, and the pseudo Tuscan murals lose their effect when stretched around fifty thousand square feet of retail floorspace.
Aesthetics aside, Spec's has a lot going for it. For one, the prices at Spec's are hard to beat. For a party-in-a-pinch, they have a huge selection of specialty foods and deli items. They also stock a handful of Fair Trade Certified coffees from Katz Coffee (I would avoid the under-roasted non-FTC coffees that comprise the bulk of their selection.)
The beer selection is impressive, though not quite overwhelming. As with the liqour aisles, I was hoping to see a bunch of labels that I had never seen before, but such was not the case. This is not to say that Spec’s is lacking in variety—or to say that I had any problem whatsoever finding something to purchase. On this first trip we spent $180. And fortunately if you come with cash in hand, you are rewarded with a 5% discount.

Nothing speaks of luxury like a cash discount...