Majestic launches its latest small format store in Crouch End

• Majestic’s newest small-format high street store opens on Crouch End Hill 
• Shop will stock Majestic’s full range of more than 1,200 wines, plus beers, spirits and low and no alcohol alternatives 
• Crouch End is an area full of Loire lovers, with almost £1 in every £10 spent on wine going on bottles from the Loire Valley – double the UK average
  

Majestic, the UK’s largest specialist wine retailer, has opened the doors to its newest small-format store in Crouch End – the Loire capital of the UK.

The 3,150 sq ft store is smaller than the average Majestic site and will carry the retailer’s full range of more than 1,200 wines, plus beers, spirits, low and no alcohol alternatives, soft drinks and snacks. Situated on the popular Crouch End Hill, the store is perfectly placed to serve walk-in customers picking up a bottle on their way home from work.

Majestic’s experienced and qualified colleagues will host free wine tastings seven days a week from the in-store Tasting Counter, offering customers the opportunity to try a selection of wines before they buy, receive tasting notes and get expert advice.

Customers will be able to benefit from services including free glass hire for occasions such as weddings, festive family gatherings and New Year’s Eve parties, free click-and-collect within as little as four hours, and next-day delivery, with the store’s own van delivering orders directly to customers’ homes. Majestic’s unique ‘No Quibble Guarantee’ also allows customers to return any wines they don’t like in exchange for a replacement bottle of equivalent value.

Crouch End is the fifth new store of Majestic’s financial year – following openings in Rugby, Newark, Chippenham and Monmouth – and the 15th it has launched since its acquisition by Fortress Investment Group in December 2019.  Since then, following the backing of its owners and the reintroduction of former management, Majestic has returned to growth and stability, and is taking an increasingly agile approach to reaching communities in target areas of the UK.

In April, Majestic opened its first small-format high street store in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, which was a finalist in the Game-Changing Store of the Year category at the Retail Gazette Awards 2023. The 1,800 sq ft unit is less than half the size of the average Majestic shop, but its performance to-date has given the business confidence to roll out similar smaller sites in other high-density catchments like Crouch End, where there is a keen appetite for unique, high-quality wines, and expert advice.

Majestic’s data suggests that Crouch End is an area full of discerning wine drinkers and, in particular, Loire lovers. Almost £1 in every £10 currently spent on wine by Majestic customers from N8 postcodes goes on products from the Loire Valley – nearly double the UK average.

Majestic’s arrival in the Loire hotspot comes just six weeks after it was crowned Loire Specialist of the Year at the prestigious Decanter Retailer Awards 2023. Judges hailed Majestic’s “value and breadth of range across the Loire Valley, from Muscadet to Montlouis and more”.

The award-winning range features Dom Figeat Melody Pouilly Fume 2022, highly recommended by Majestic buying manager, Jane Masters – one of the retailer’s two Masters of Wine. Other customer favourites Domaine Roger Neveu Sancerre 2022, Domaine Fouassier Cuvée Calcaire organic Pouilly Fume 2022, and Les Cigales Pouilly Fume 2022 will all feature in Majestic’s Black Friday deals launching later this month.

Majestic CEO John Colley said: “Crouch End is an area we have had our eye on for some time as part of our expansion plans. Using the lessons we have learned from our first small format store in Harpenden, we are delighted to have found a similar location that the local community will love.

We already know there are hundreds of discerning wine-lovers in and around Crouch End, and so we are incredibly excited to be bringing our award-winning wines and expert knowledge to this part of London – just in time to help them discover even more wines, beers and spirits they will love this Christmas.

Majestic remain huge champions of experiential retail and opening another smaller store underlines our ongoing commitment to investing and innovating in bricks and mortar. We are proud to be accelerating our pipeline of new store openings and are excited about becoming a part of even more communities across the UK in the New Year.”

Image credit Majestic/Photography by Linas.