Jeroboams has carved a name for itself as London’s local wine merchant since it began trading more than 30 years ago, with its trade distribution arm dating back to 1934, but it’s not resting on its laurels. Chief executive Matt Tipping has been quietly expanding the wine specialist’s store portfolio and recently unveiled its new store format at its ninth location. He spoke to Retail Week about his plans for the retailer

You’re expanding store numbers. How is that going?

“I’ve spent effectively the last two years pounding the streets of London trying to find suitable shops. In my naivety, I thought the pandemic would mean there were a lot of empty shops but, as we know, it’s more complicated than that. Plus, of course, there’s the legal side of things where landlords can’t chase and close, so I’ve had to be patient actually. But I have been looking for a long time. We now have nine stores and are close to signing on a 10th location.”

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The wine merchant recently opened its ninth location in Wimbledon

What are you looking for in a new location?

“The criteria we have is quite simple. We want our shops to be where people live and, therefore, it’s the London villages. And we want to get on high streets that are really alive with independent retailers – that’s the kind of world we operate within.

“While, of course, times are getting tougher for everybody, people are choosing how to spend their more limited funds, and I believe a good proportion when making those choices think more about who they want to give their money to. So I do believe being on those high streets, which have a diverse set of options, high-quality local producers and local companies, is important.”

Would you consider branching out of London?

”Yeah, I’ve got an eye on it. It’s not a priority, but it’s one of those things I’m looking at. Sometimes you have to test yourself a little bit and one of those things is to look a bit further out. I wouldn’t be claiming that it’s going to be moving on for world domination, though. We will take small steps and it will be to a commuter town or something like that, just to gradually find our way. But there’s lots of scope still within London as well.”

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The store estate has recently undergone a refresh, to make them look warmer and more inviting to shoppers

You recently debuted a new store format in Wimbledon. Tell us more about that.

“We finished refitting our estate and thought that it looked a bit clinical, so we hired an agency called Impact Retail, which did a lot of work on adapting the lighting and brought more wood into the design to make it feel warmer. We also got rid of plastic shelf-edging and POS, and replaced it with wooden alternatives. So we’re now going back and incorporating that into the other stores. The front window is also different – we’ve used levelled shelving to display bottles in a similar style that traditional grocers would – and we have new box displays in stores, with bottles and images of the vineyards they’ve come from and details about the producer.”

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Chief executive Matt Tipping has been quietly expanding the wine specialist’s store portfolio

Does technology play a bigger part in your stores now? 

“Definitely. We say our staff are always there to help, but some people don’t always want that and don’t enjoy shopping like that. We use QR codes throughout now, which allow customers to scan to learn more about a wine, see the vineyard it has come from and find out who is producing it. We also have iPads, which customers can use to access more information about the wines. We have all this on our website, so having iPads allows us to bring that information together.”

Are you incorporating technology to attract a younger audience?

“Not really – you may not expect it, but we do have quite a lot of young customers already. If you look at the audience for our wine events, the demographic ranges from people in their late 20s right the way through. The technology is there for everyone to use.”

Exterior of Jeroboams store

Jeroboams is seeking high street locations among independent retailers

Do you offer a loyalty scheme? 

“We do, but it’s not a traditional points-for-purchase style of loyalty scheme. It’s called Bunch and it’s a community. Members get a monthly newsletter, priority access to our ticketed events and tastings, exclusive offers and competitions.”

Has the cost-of-living crisis had an impact on the types of products shoppers are buying or the volume? 

“We’re not seeing people swapping champagne for prosecco, or changes in basket size, but there’s possibly been a change to the frequency of visits. People may now prioritise the Friday or Saturday purchase, rather than shopping midweek too. People are also conscious of how much they’re spending – going over the £20 mark or the £30 mark, depending on what they’re purchasing, is becoming more of a consideration.”

Have you been impacted by the labour shortage? 

“Yes. We have a lot of European employees, naturally, from wine-producing regions and during the pandemic a lot of them went home to stay with their families. After – dare I utter the word – Brexit, it was a lot harder for them to come back. We offer a lot of training and investment, and I’m sure that we pay more than most other retailers.”

What’s the average length of service for a staff member?

“I’m not sure exactly what the average is, but I know we’ve got members of staff that have worked for us for over 30 years; many have worked here for over 20 years. We have a graded training programme so as staff move through the training, their pay increases. We find that model very successful because we keep those people who are enthusiastic and keen to learn and progress.”

Aldi and Lidl have invested a lot in their wine ranges and have been very successful. Do you feel the impact of that at all? 

“I believe anyone investing time to make people more aware of the wine they’re drinking and where it has come from is a good thing, ultimately, and it makes for a healthier market. We haven’t felt the impact from Aldi or Lidl. I think the average price of a bottle of wine from a supermarket is £6 to £7 – Waitrose is maybe around £8 – whereas we’re more around the £20 mark, so a different price point.”

What presents the biggest challenges for a business like yours?

“Rising costs. But, regardless of the type of business or where you operate, costs are increasing, so at least everyone is experiencing similar situations in that sense.”

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