Majestic Wine has toasted its biggest ever Christmas, as new customers splashed out on fine wines, champagne and sparkling during the festive period.
In the six weeks to December 30, Majestic reported a 1.9% increase in sales and achieved a record share of the market during the festive period – beating its previous Christmas record set in 2023.
The retailer’s strong performance over the festive period was driven by the rapid growth of its business-to-business arm Majestic Commercial and by the opening of seven new stores during 2024.
Majestic served more than 70,000 new customers for the first time over Christmas, while its commercial arm supplied nearly 800 new hospitality clients year-on-year.
The retailer’s busiest trading day was Monday, December 23 as fine wine sales rose 4% during the period, while sales of champagne and sparkling jumped 4.7% and 5.3% respectively – with customers keen to trade up to treat friends and family at Christmas.
Majestic chief executive John Colley said: “Majestic colleagues across all areas of our business pulled out all the stops to deliver another cracking Christmas for our customers. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in such a tough market, and I cannot thank our teams enough for their hard work and passion for what we do.
“It’s clear that, even when consumers’ budgets are tight, our market-leading product range, expert advice and differentiated service is a winning proposition – particularly at important times of year like Christmas.
“We are heading into what will be another challenging year for retail and hospitality businesses, with increases in the national minimum wage, employer national insurance contributions and alcohol excise duty all representing unhelpful headwinds.
“That said, we have plans in place to mitigate some of these and, with the strong backing of Fortress Investment Group, will continue to invest in growing our on-trade division and opening new Majestic stores – including exciting launches in Christchurch, Wimborne Minster and Rickmansworth.
“Whatever the next 12 months brings, our focus will remain on doing what Majestic does best – offering quality, unique products at the best possible prices, and helping even more customers discover new wines, beers and spirits they will love.”
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