In Administration - and Incredibly Expensive! (Wine Rack)

Member Name: minkypolly

Product:	Wine Rack
Date:	01/11/09 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Attractive store layout, convenient

Disadvantages: Ridiculous prices, little advice available

As I write this review, First Quench Retailing (the company which operates Wine Rack) is firmly in administration. The stores are still trading, however, and apparently a new buyer is being sought who will continue to trade a large portion of the shops, hopefully saving some jobs in the process.

My local store was packed last night. I suppose the fact it was Halloween and a Saturday contributed to this, but there were also a lot of lapsed customers in, being nosy because of the company being in the news. Sadly, I doubt they are going to be returning longer-term.

The shop itself looked as though it hadn't been cared for in some time. All the fitments were spanking new, but unfortunately hadn't been cleaned. I decided against a Snickers as it was the last one on the rack, and when I picked it up there was a dead fly underneath! Personally I prefer to buy things I am intending to put in my mouth from a clean location, so this was quite a turn-off.

I have to say, I can kind of understand why their sales have plummeted. Last time I bought a bottle of Veuve Clicquot it cost £30 from my local independent convenience store. Wine Rack are selling it for £44.99. You do get a third free when you pay for two, which brings it down to a similar price to everyone else, but why would I wax £90 on an impulse buy? I can't believe my local independent grocer has more buying power than Wine Rack! This therefore does make you feel a little like you're getting ripped off.

From what I can see, Wine Rack as a brand has nowhere to go - my local store had loads of money spent on it last year, but I now wonder if that money would have been better spent on staff training (there's never a manager about in the evenings when I shop) or on better pricing. I am normally happy to pay over the odds if I get great service, but compared to somewhere like Majestic, where all the staff seem to be quite passionate about wine, Wine Rack doesn't measure up.

Wine Rack is part of the company that used to have Threshers - the staple of my student days with scruffy but welcoming stores and staff, and loads of good deals on beer and wine. I think its a shame that in trying to make their brand more "posh" their products have become more expensive - at the end of the day a bottle of Veuve is a bottle of Veuve no matter where its purchased, and a 50% mark-up is unacceptable in an off-licence, no matter how fancy it is.

I will still pop into Wine Rack for convenience's sake every now and then, but it doesn't look like they'll be around that much longer!

Summary: Understandably at risk!!!