Bargain Booze to open in 70 Food Warehouse stores

The two retailers have been trialling the concept since September last year, initially within three stores but more recently expanding to 12 Food Warehouse sites.

Speaking at Bargain Booze’s Drinks at Home trade show held today in Liverpool, Bestway Retail director Mike Hollis said: “This week we have signed an agreement with Food Warehouse to supply 70 of their shops.”

He told Independent Retail News some of the sites would see the sections clearly branded as Bargain Booze while others would simply feature the Bargain Booze drinks range.

Most of the sections would be up and running by Christmas, with a few more following in January. The new deal will initially take the collaboration into about 80 stores in total, when the existing trial sites are included.

Bestway Wholesale’s managing director, Dawood Pervez, said that when Bestway bought Bargain Booze from Conviviality Retail in 2018, the chain was in administration and had lost “a chunk” of its retailers as a result.

The deal with Food Warehouse would help restore some of that lost volume, raising overall Bargain Booze sales by about 10%, he added.

“We hope it’s the beginning of a wider two-way relationship.”

Pervez said one of the Food Warehouse trial sites was less than a mile from a franchisee’s existing store.

But rather than sales at the existing store being hit by the proximity of the rival offer, they had actually increased, he said.

“Customers saw the offer it in the Iceland store. They liked what they saw and started coming into the Bargain Booze as well. So, I think we’ve got the support of the franchisees.”

Bestway also said today it would launch a Bargain Booze ‘store within a store’ concept for Costcutter and Best-one retailers.