I recently concluded a poll with the question: “Where do you buy off-trade alcohol? (select all that apply)” There were 46 responses, broken down as follows:
Supermarket: 41 (89%)
Traditional off-licence: 10 (21%)
Discount off-licence: 5 (10%)
Specialist off-licence: 21 (45%)
Corner shop: 14 (30%)
Pub off-sales: 2 (4%)
Mail order/internet: 9 (19%)
This clearly underlines the dominance the supermarkets have achieved in the market. Given that quite a few beer enthusiasts read this blog, it’s not entirely surprising to see specialist off-licences come second. But the fact that corner shops come out ahead of traditional off-licences illustrates the problems that sector has been experiencing, recently leading to Thresher going into administration.
As an aside, earlier this evening I visited a specialist off-licence and bought six bottles of beer, three German, three British, at an average price per unit of 71.3p. Don Shenker would be proud of me!
The larger supermarkets can have a decent choice, especially if you're prepared to stock up during their specials. They're also good for impulse purchases; I had no intention of buying any Brew Dog Zeitgeist on yesterday's Tesco visit but it seemed rude not to.
ReplyDeleteI am slightly disturbed that there are relatively few specialist off-licenses. I'd hope there'd be enough of a market for more to thrive but it seems not. I only know of a couple round Manchester.