Baile forced to close two Excellar stores

Simon Baile has had to close two of the stores in his Excellar chain, including the Paris site.

Baile, who was previously managing director of Oddbins when it collapsed under the weight of its debt, was left with no choice but to close the Paris and East Sheen stores after sales fell to too low a level.

He told Off-Licence News that the closure of the Paris store, which had been open for 11 years, was “very sad”, however he seemed less sentimental about the East Sheen operation saying it had been a “bloody disaster”.

Baile said that the ownership of Excellar would be restructured in 2013 with many pointing to his wife Kathryn, already listed as a director, as the prime choice to take over.

He added further that the deli-trial being run at Excellar’s Surbiton store was going well and likely to be rolled out to the remaining three stores to help drive further trade.

Some of the issues concerning the payment of Oddbin’s creditors was resolved earlier this year with unsecured creditors likely to receive just 1 pence in the pound.

One anonymous creditor told the drinks business at the time that the deal “stank”.