Vagabond secures fourth site for wine bar

Vagabond Wines has secured its fourth site in London as it ramps up its expansion plans.

The independent retailer and wine bar has signed a deal on a site in the Battersea Power Station regeneration development and is already eyeing up further sites in London.

”We have two or three more in the pipelines as we’re anxious to get going,” Vagabond boss Stephen Finch told the drinks business.

Building work on the Battersea Power station store is expected to be finished in December 2016 with the wine shop set to open in the spring of 2017. It will be similar to the company’s Spitalfieds site, Finch said, with around 30% of the 2,600 sq ft site devoted to wine retailing and the remaining 70% run as a wine bar offering light food.

“We have to have a compelling offer as we need to create a place where people want to spend time,” he said.

Finch said the combination of shop and bar was one of the strengths of the business, not only for offering something different to other retailers, but because as it was an adaptable and flexible business model that could be employed differently in different locations.

The retailer’s first store in Fulham Broadway was one of the pioneers of the ‘new’ style of retailing that allows consumers to sample wines using an Enomatics machine before buying it – a model that is increasingly popular with wine retailers including upmarket multiple retailer Booths. Vagabond currently operates two further sites, in Charlotte Street in central London and Spitalfieds, but has plans to expand in London and across the UK to around 15-20 outlets.

Currently the business is split between 55% on trade, 25% retail and 20% wholesale, but Finch said the on-trade and wholesale side were likely to grow at a greater rate than the retail side as the company grew.

“The idea is to grow nationally, but I want critical mass in London first,” he said.

International expansion has also not been ruled out in the longer term. “We’ve had opportunities before but it was not right time. We don’t want to lose focus. When I feel it is more appropriate, we may revisit it, but it would be more of a partnership with a local operation,” he said.

Finch is also looking at importing wine in 24kL flexi-tanks and bottling in the UK using a third-party bottler. This, he points out, is what has allowed the multiple retailers to offer wines at lower price points, but could also benefit smaller groups of independents working together.

“It is a no-brainer,” he said.“We had hoped to have it already, in time for Christmas, but it should now happen in Spring 2016.”