Majestic Wine
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| Majestic Wine plc | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public company (AIM:MJW) |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Tony Mason |
| Headquarters | Watford, United Kingdom |
| No. of locations | 144 in UK; Calais |
| Industry | Wine retailing |
| Revenue | £193.9m (12 months to 1/Oct/2007) |
| Operating income | £16.8m |
| Net income | £11.7m |
| Website | http://www.majestic.co.uk/ |
Majestic Wine plc is the United Kingdom's largest wine retailer. (Note that Majestic's own website uses both 'Majestic Wine plc' and 'Majestic Wine Warehouses Ltd'.)
Contents |
[edit] History
Majestic Vintners opened its first wine warehouse in Harringay[1], North London, in 1980[citation needed], under the management of Tony Mason. The second store was opened in Battersea in May 1981. In mid-1981, the group called in receivers, and was bought by investment banker Giles Clarke,[2] where as Chairman Clarke built it into a UK national chain. From August 1987 to May 1988, Clarke was chairman of Majestic Wine Corporation Inc, a United States company which owned a chain of 104 stores trading as Liquor Barn in California and Arizona.[3] Following disposal of the US based businesses, Clarke sold the UK plc business of Majestic Wines for £15 million in 1989 to investors, and went on to form Pet City.
In 1986, Mason set up Wizard Wine under the same concept, which in 1987 was purchased by retailer Bejam. After Bejam was purchased by rival Iceland in 1987, Mason and partners John Apthorp (now retired) and Tim How (now CEO) bought Wine Wizard from the heavily indebted Iceland. In 1991 Wine Wizard purchased Majestic Wine plc in a leveraged buyout, and merged under the Majestic Wine Warehouses brand as a private company.[4]
[edit] Today
Head quartered in Watford, Hertfordshire, under the leadership of Tim How (now CEO), Majestic Wine became a public company in 1996, floating on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Majestic Wine interestingly operates as a mixed case retailer, selling a mixture of wine, champagne and spirits with a minimum purchase of twelve bottles. Having such a policy has allowed the retailer to offer their customers free tasting, free delivery and free glass hire.
Majestic Wine currently has 144 stores in the UK, owing its expansion and success to a combination of acquisition and development:
- April 2000 - Majestic.co.uk was launched, offering customers a convenient online service. By 2007, online sales had risen to around £15 million per year with over 100,000 orders.
- October 2001 - Majestic acquired Les Celliers de Calais, who's business was based around the British cross-channel trade. Now known as Wine & Beer World there are three stores in Calais, Coquelles and Cherbourg.
- July 2003 - Majestic opened their first temperature controlled fine wine centre at St. John's Wood store. They currently have nearly 40 air-conditioned stores, but the largest amount of fine wine is still housed in the original St John's Wood store.
- October 2005 - Launched Gift Solutions, an online service designed to allow customers to send gifts of less than 12 bottles.
In 2007 at the at the International Wine Challenge Awards, Majestic Wine was awarded both High Street Merchant of The Year 2007, and overall Merchant of The Year 2007, on the strength of their "Competitive prices, excellent customer service, impressive range". In the same year, Decanter Magazine awarded them Decanter High Street Chain of The Year 2007.
[edit] References
- ^ Majestic first store was in Colina Mews, Harringay. Majestic's website mistakenly refers to this as Wood Green, the boundary of Wood Green is about a half mile further north.
- ^ About Us: National Council - C Giles Clarke Learning & Skills Council
- ^ tecc-IS plc - Directorate Change digitallook.com - 12 December, 2003
- ^ About Majestic Majestic Wine plc
[edit] External links
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