In a fairly quiet morning for grocery all the papers follow The Grocer’s lead with news that Majestic Wine is to trial sales of single bottles in a bid to attract customers currently put off by the six-bottle minimum. The Grocer broke the story exclusively back in May that the listed wine retailer was trying out the new three-month initiative at the Belgravia, Newcastle, Darlington, Northallerton, Durham and Hexham stores.
The story has now been reported by all the national papers as Majestic Wine posted a 22.5% in pre-tax profits in its full-year results yesterday.
The Times also adds that Majestic is ditching plans to expand to 330 stores as the company attempts a turnaround under new CEO Rowan Gormley, the former boss of Naked Wines.
The Guardian quotes Gormley, who was put in charge following the £70m Naked deal, as saying the bid to revamp stores comes as customers find the warehouse format and six-bottle requirement intimidating.
Sales at Majestic rose 2.3% to £284.5m in the year to the end of March but pre-tax profit fell to £18.4m. The Telegraph, which leads with the single-bottle angle, adds that the retailer is being squeezed by supermarkets at one end of the market and wine specialists such as Laithwaite’s at the other.
The Financial Times focuses on the scale of the turnaround task facing the new management following the profits slump.
The FT also reports on the acquisition by Hudson’s Bay Company of the Galeria Kaufhof network of department stores from German retailer Metro Group in a deal worth €2.83bn including debt. It marks the Canadian group’s first foray into Europe.
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