Back to the future for Oddbins

It’s an interesting case of “back to the future” for the Oddbins retail chain, which has been bought from Castel by Ex Cellar, a company founded by Simon Baile whose father was managing director of Oddbins in the mid-1970s.

Simon, who founded Ex Cellar partly with the aim of establishing a ‘direct relationship between the wine buyer and the small wine producer – cutting out the middle man’ now finds himself in charge of 158 Oddbins stores, 154 in the UK and 4 in the Republic of Ireland.

As detailed previously in the drinks business, Castel carried out major restructuring work at Oddbins, including classifying stores according to shop type and location. This extensive, and expensive, restructuring will provide the foundation for future development.

French group Castel is now left with 82 Nicolas outlets in the UK.

Although Ex Cellar has only two stores at present, in Paris and Ashstead, Surrey, Simon brings abundant enthusiasm for the retail trade to his new role as Oddbins director. He met with sales staff yesterday to outline his immediate vision for the company and assure them of his commitment to its distinctive ethos of well-trained, knowledgeable staff and interesting, eclectic stock.

It appears that changes to Oddbins wine range may be in the pipeline but core stock that has proved its quality and popularity will remain largely the same.

Despite a difficult market Oddbins still has the advantage of a strong identity, built up over many years. Simon Baile obviously believes the company can be brought back to its former glory with the right approach. He’s proved his passion for the brand by putting his money where his mouth is and it’s likely there are plenty of Oddbins fans wishing him every success in his venture.

Brigitte Istim, 06.08.08