Majestic Wine chief executive Tim How believes there is potential to almost double store numbers to 200 over the next few years.
His confidence came on the back of a fizzy performance at Christmas.
Majestic uncorked a like-for-like sales leap of 7.4 per cent for the eight weeks to December 31.
How previously had a target of 175 outlets. However, analysts at Numis Securities believe that store numbers could reach 200 and How did not disagree.
He said: 'I think we could have up to 200 outlets, but the challenge is finding them all.'
Majestic normally opens between five and 10 new stores a year. How said that Majestic plans to open eight shops in 2004 - two less than last year.
He said that the number of customers on Majestic's database has improved by 10.1 per cent year on year to 320,000.
How added: 'We are very pleased with our sales performance over the Christmas period. Wines from Bordeaux, Loire, southern France, South Africa, New Zealand and Chile sold particularly well, and champagne and beer sales grew strongly.'
The 7.4 per cent comparable sales growth came from an approximate 4 per cent increase in transaction value and a 3 per cent rise in the number of transactions.
Numis analyst Rachel Saunders said: 'Majestic's like-for-likes were bang in line with our expectations. However, you do wonder how can they continue to generate those like-for-likes, bearing in mind the comparisons over the past two years, which have been amazing.'
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