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ThirtyFifty - Hens

Wine News

Majestic's fine wine boosts festive sales

Majestic had a bumper Christmas period, with fine wine sales helping the company fight off competition from the supermarkets. Sales overall were up 4.4 per cent on last year for the nine-week festive trading period, while fine-wine sales leapt by 25 per cent. Generally, wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Spain and New Zealand sold particularly well, according to Chief Executive Tim How. And Champagne sales continued to grow strongly too, he said.

The French big guns - Bordeaux and Burgundy – both helped boost Majestic’s fine-wine figure, as the company sells a lot of bottles from these regions in the premium-price bracket. In fact, Tim How told ThirtyFifty, ‘Our average claret price is over £10. We sell very little ordinary AC Bordeaux.’ Christmas is always going to good news for a retailer like Majestic, which has a 12-bottle minimum purchase policy, because people tend to buy more for the festive season. However, it’s also the time when the supermarkets are full-on with special offers. A happy Tim How said, ‘It just goes to prove you can run a successful differentiated retailer in the face of supermarket competition.’