Majestic operates the largest wine warehouse chain in Britain, specialising in the sale of wine by the mixed case direct to the public.
Majestic differentiates itself by the high quality of its customer service and advice, the diversity and quantity of stock available to purchase at each store, its dedicated on-site customer parking, wines to taste every day, the ability to order in-store or via its website and the availability of free delivery throughout mainland UK.
A brief history
Majestic Vintners opened its first Wine Warehouse in Wood Green, North London, in 1980. The manager of this first store was Tony Mason. This store was followed in May 1981 by another in Battersea, and by the end of 1985 there were 13 stores in the Majestic estate.
In January 1986 Tony Mason left Majestic to set up Wizard Wine which was bought in 1987 by frozen food retailer Bejam. When Bejam was purchased by rival Iceland a year later, Chairman John Apthorp, Managing Director Tim How and Trading Director Tony Mason purchased Wizard.
In 1991 Wizard purchased Majestic, and the two operations were merged under the Majestic Wine Warehouses banner in 1992. Since then Majestic has expanded continuously, floating on the Alternative Investment Market in 1996 before opening its hundredth store in 2002. The group currently has 150 stores in the UK.
Recent developments
Majestic's transactional website, Majestic.co.uk, was launched in April 2000. Offering online access to almost all of Majestic's products and services, the website builds on Majestic's retail operation, with order fulfillment carried out directly by local stores using Majestic vans.
In October 2001 Majestic purchased Les Celliers de Calais SA, a business which had successfully operated in the French channel ports since 1993. The stores in Calais, Coquelles and Cherbourg now trade as Wine & Beer World, serving a largely British customer base purchasing drinks at lower duty rates than in the UK.
July 2003 saw Majestic's first major push into the fine wine market, with the opening of the temperature-controlled Fine Wine Centre within our St. John's Wood store. The range of around 250 fine wines retailing at £20 and above is available for distribution to other Majestic stores, with orders accepted through a dedicated Fine Wine website as well as in-store customer orders. In addition to the central Fine Wine Centre, a temperature-controlled fine wine area is being rolled out in-store. At the end of June 2009, 55 stores have dedicated fine wine sales areas and this number is set to increase.
In October 2005 Majestic launched its Gift Solutions service, offering gift packs of between 1 and 6 bottles with next day delivery via courier. This offers customers the option of sending high quality gifts for a reasonable price and is available online and by phone.
In March 2009, Majestic acquired Lay & Wheeler, a fine wine specialist with particular authority in wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy. Lay & Wheeler has been synonymous with high quality wines for over 150 years and has considerable expertise in the fields of fine wine sourcing, en primeur sales, portfolio management, cellarage and broking. Lay & Wheeler offers the storage of customers' wines under bond at its own dedicated facility in Burton upon Trent. Wines are kept in optimum storage conditions with duty and VAT being deferred until the wines are removed from bond. Over recent years we have successfully introduced fine wine display areas into over a third of Majestic stores. We have achieved strong growth in sales of wines, priced at £20 and above that are ready to drink. The acquisition of Lay & Wheeler allows us to offer our customers a complete fine wine service from the vineyard through to storage, cellar management and then secure delivery to their home, or sale within the wider fine wine market.
More infomation
For more information on Majestic's operations can be found on the various sections of our consumer website:
Details of Majestic's recruitment and management training can be found in the Careers section.