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Majestic celebrates bumper Christmas
Wine retailer Majetic delivered its biggest ever-Christmas, it has said, with sales up 1.9% with retail and B2B customers up in the six week period, it said.
Trading results in the six weeks to 30 December saw sales grow, with more than 70,000 new customers shopping in its stores (and online), buoyed by the opening of seven new stores during 2024 as well as the strong growth of its on-trade supply arm, Majestic Commercial, which supplied 800 new venues – comprising gastropubs, bars, restaurants and hospitality venues – over the holiday season.
Monday 23rd December proved to be the retailers biggest trading day in its history, up on last year’s record, with 24th proving to be its busiest Christmas Eve.
Among the winners were fine wine sales, which rose 4% – a slow down on last year’s 13% increase, but showing that shoppers are still trading up. The key Champagne and Sparkling categories climbed 4.7% and 5.3% respectively, while Fortified wines also rose 15%.
More esoteric choices were also in demand, with Greek wine sales up 28%, Georgian wines seeing growth of 83% (albeit of a smaller base) and Lebanese wines trebling sales during the trading period.
In December, the company launched a ‘store sommeliers’ initiative to help customers find the perfect parings for Christmas menu, after partnering with sommelier Romain Bourger, the UK Sommelier of the Year 2019. It also ran aits StoryBehindEveryGlass TV and radio advert.
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Growth trajectory
Since being acquired by Fortress Investment Group in December 2019, Majestic has opened 22 stores, including new smaller format stores in towns, which have a lower retail footprint.
It has also increasingly focussed on its on-trade supply business, Majestic Commercial, targeting higher end restaurants and bars following the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. It now now supplies over 3,000 gastropubs, bars, restaurants, fine dining operators, hotels and events venues. Recent new high-profile clients include Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, which sees Majestic supplying champagne and sparkling wine to the hotel chain’s 32 locations, which includes the Bath Spa Hotel, The Drumossie Hotel in Inverness and The Bear Hotel in the Cotswolds. The commercial arm has reported three consecutive years of double digit sales growth, the retailer says, as it plans to further accelerate growth to become one of the UK’s largest wine suppliers to the on-trade within the next five years.
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