Oddbins insists the price is right as wine shops tackle supermarkets

ODDBINS veteran Ayo Akintola was prepared to fight for every customer as he relaunched the wine merchant chain last week. He popped the cork on several of his favourite bottles to entice drinkers into the stores and chat about pricing and how Oddbins could draw them away from cheap supermarket deals.

The recently appointed managing director, who has been with the retailer since 1997, is returning the company that went bust in April to its roots by focusing on the produce. He is hoping that a new generation of ethically conscious shoppers will share his passion for wines from small, quality vineyards and will be prepared to pay for them.

As he seeks to turn the chain’s much reduced portfolio of 37 shops into a sustainable and profitable business for new owner Raj Chatha, Akintola has spent the past five months reconstructing the company from scratch. While the stores continued to trade following the firm’s collapse, the product range has recently been overhauled with the help of Chatha’s European Food Brokers (EFB) group. The internal layout has been altered, although a possible external rebranding is on hold until after Christmas.

Calling itself “a very large independent wine merchant”, Oddbins will be competing with dozens of smaller firms and individual shops that have sprung up in cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow in the space left by long-standing chains such as Threshers and Victoria Wine.

But far from resenting the intrusion, many of these wine merchants are raising a glass to Akintola and wishing him luck. They see him as an ally in the bigger battle to prise wine fans away from the supermarkets, and feel that Oddbins still has the clout to make a difference.

Philip Craig, co-owner and managing director of Scottish mini-chain Winehouse, said: “I would honestly say that the independent sector is all in the same boat. For me it’s good that Oddbins has emerged and it would be good if others expanded.”

Such warm words might seem surprising from Craig, who bid for the 37 profitable Oddbins stores in April but lost out to Chatha. However, he believes that the key is for more consumers to get a taste for the array of wines being offered by the smaller retailers. They generally stock different brands to the big supermarkets, selling wine from the hundreds of vineyards worldwide which are too small to supply the likes of Tesco and Asda.

Paisley-based Winehouse has built up a portfolio of 21 stores across Scotland in recent years, taking advantage of the decline of the off licence chains such as Threshers.

Winehouse and the various small wine merchants that have sprung up in affluent areas have been given plenty of elbow room to grow. Oddbins had reduced its estate of 200 shops to 88 by the time it went into administration, while rival Unwins disappeared from Britain’s high streets in 2005. It was followed in 2009 by First Quench, which owned brands including Haddows, Threshers and Victoria Wine.

The closure of First Quench’s 1,400 shops saw independent wine merchants enjoy a renaissance in Scotland. One Edinburgh wine merchant likened it to a big tree in the forest falling down and leaving room and light for new growth.

But that sentiment was not repeated when Oddbins collapsed. The independents say they carried a flame for Oddbins, where many experts started their careers. Many felt that the company’s decline began after it was bought by French giant Castel in 2001. Castel was accused of starving the business of investment, something the new ownership appears keen to address. Although he will not mention figures, Akintola says more money has been pumped into Oddbins over the past five months than was invested during the previous four and a half years.

He is left with an estate of high street stores in areas well suited to the wine trade, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Of the 37 stores remaining, 20 are in London and a further ten in Scotland. Akintola says Scotland remains a particularly strong area for the company, where it has historically traded well.

He also says specialist wine shops can lure supermarket customers by offering a very different retail experience. He wants to persuade connoisseurs to pay what a wine is worth, although he says it’s a “misperception” that independents are more expensive. And he rails against the constant price changes and offers employed by supermarkets.

“It’s a zero sum game which is not being honest with the consumer,” he says. “If a bottle is £7 in our store when you go in one day it will be £7 the next week, because that’s what we think it’s worth. The consumer will actually appreciate that.”

To make his point, he is asking drinkers to help Oddbins price some of its wines. Based on a blind tasting in store, they will sell three bottles at the average price suggested by customers.

Akintola hopes that as British consumers have become more interested in the provenance of the food in recent years, they might feel the same about wine.

“You are not talking about Coca Cola or Pepsi here, we are talking about an agricultural product,” he says.

“In its heyday Oddbins was an innovative force on the high street and transformed the way British consumers purchased wine.

“We are confident that we can make Oddbins a relevant and much admired brand once again.”