Oddbins is preparing for a summer of change as the wine retailer looks to spend £2 million on refurbishing stores and setting in motion a detailed online marketing plan and social media initiative. According to the Daily Mail, Oddbins owner European Food Brokers Retail will spend £2 million on the refurbishment of 34 stores, after acquiring 109 Wine Cellar stores in 2009.

Posted by Ava Szajna

Read more…

Majestic Wines has announced a like-for-like sales increase of 1.1 per cent for the seven weeks from 13 November to 31 December.

Posted by Kirsty Simmonds

Read more…

Half-year profits at Majestic Wine were up 3.9 per cent in the six months to 1 October, compared with results a year before. The retailer also saw a “substantial” rise in customers registered to its database who made a purchase in the last 12 months. New customer numbers rose by 11.2 per cent since October 2011, with shoppers paying an average of £7.46 per bottle, up from £7.13 the year before.

Posted by Ava Szajna

Read more…

South Africa is considering launching a “trade war” against the United Kingdom after two of the latter’s biggest supermarkets decided to bulk-buy wine instead of purchasing it by bottle, as they did previously.

Read more…

Oddbins has revealed plans to continue expanding its off license stores, a sure sign the retailer is finally back on top. Despite past struggles in the sector, Oddbins is now looking to add five more stores to its 35-strong portfolio by the end of this year, signalling a return to form for the high street chain.

Read more…

A heady line-up Any Londoners still puzzling through manifestos or struggling to read between the party lines will be pleased to know Oddbins has created a far more enlightened way of differentiating between the campaigns for Mayor of London. In what could be seen as the most scientific process available, the independent wine merchant has put together a selection of wines it believes "sums up" the seven candidates running for the election.

Read more…

Majestic Wine chairman and former boss of New Look, Phil Wrigley, has described Mary Portas’ review of the high street as the “right diagnosis, wrong prescription”. Speaking at Oxford University, Wrigley said the traditional high street model is “almost completely moribund,” stating: “It is...

Read more…

A handful of Starbucks stores in Southern California, Atlanta and Chicago will offer alcoholic drinks by the end of the year. The coffee giant is thought to be hoping to catch a new type of crowd with its happy-hour offering, which will begin in four to six new or remodelled stores in Southern California by the end of the year, followed by a similar roll-out in Atlanta and Chicago.

Read more…

The New Year celebrations may be over for most of us, but it seems Majestic Wine have another toast to make, after shares in the retailer climbed 15 per cent on the back of an impressive Christmas trading update. Majestic Wine reported a 4 per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the festive period, with the average bottle price up more than 7 per cent to £7.13.

Read more…

Majestic Wine has revealed that total UK store sales, excluding VAT, were up 8.4 per cent for the nine weeks of Christmas trading, underpinned by like-for-like sales growth of 4 per cent.

Read more…