Majestic rules out bid for troubled Oddbins

WINE warehouse chain Majestic will open two further sites in Scotland this summer, taking its number of outlets north of the Border to 13, as its chief executive ruled out a bid for high street rival Oddbins.
Steve Lewis said there were only "one or two" Oddbins stores in which the Aim-quoted Majestic could be interested in taking on if the embattled company cannot be saved during a period of administration, which is expected to begin tomorrow.

"No oneADVERTISEMENThas made money as a high street off licence chain for many years," said Lewis.

"There are only one or two Oddbins sites that we might be interested in because those are the only ones with car parks."

Majestic's entire business model is built around customers being able to park outside stores to carry their minimum purchase of six bottles.

Lewis revealed that Majestic would be unveiling its first stores in Dundee and Livingston in June or July. He has been looking for "the right location" in Dundee for the past two years and has been eyeing up sites in West Lothian for the past 12 months.

While he ruled out a move to the high street, Lewis does expect to pick up more customers if a buyer cannot be found for Oddbins, resulting in the chain of 89 shops - including 16 in Scotland - being closed.

"I would definitely expect some Oddbins customers to migrate to Majestic if the chain doesn't survive," said Lewis. "If customers have stuck by Oddbins for all this time then they are interested in good wine, which is what we offer them."

He said he expected to pick up customers in places such as Inverness.