Results so far:
No - I could, but tend not to: 60% (140 Votes)
Yes, occasionally: 21.4% (50 Votes)
No - only because there are no stores near me: 14.1% (33 Votes)
Yes, frequently: 3.8% (9 Votes)
Not in stores, but I shop with them online: 0.4% (1 Votes)
As Tom explains: 'wine-pages polls are for fun - they are not meant to be rigorous scientific research. They do, however, offer an insight into the wine attitudes of our visitors.'
Accepting Tom's caveats that this is not a scientific poll, it does offer a pretty grisly insight into the problems facing Oddbins. If Oddbins is to survive it has to attract wine-page devotees or their like.
6 comments:
Jim,
I've been following the decline of Oddbins with some sadness, because my interest in wine was kindled by many visits to the Farringdon Road branch in the early 90's. That branch, which had a "fine wine" section also had tastings and I fondly remember a tasting of the 1997 Northern Rhones from which I still have several good bottles. I think the failure of Oddbins must be seen as another result of the UK supermarkets near monopoly position on food and wine sales. The UK high street has lost many of its butchers, fishmongers etc and will soon lose most of its wine merchants. I'm afraid relying on the readers of wine pages of which there are a little over 2000 registered (many outside the UK) is not going to save Oddbins remaining 120 branches !
Very accurate analysis of Mark. Same thing happening in most West-European countries. I’m afraid we all know the “enemy” of the agriculture-linked professions – and hence also of all the good food lovers (be it slow or otherwise) – is ... the supermarkets in general. Yet, we all buy something there now and again (including silly myself).
We have no right to complain then.
I love the small butchers, the little wine-merchants, the early-rising greengrocers, the fishmongers and ... the baker’s wives, yet I betray them at least once a week. Shame on me.
Gosh, what have I written? I’m heading for trouble. I betray them allright, but I NEVER cheat on the baker’s ex-wife. Let it be known !
Mark. Thanks. There is no doubt that Oddbins during the 1980s and 1990s played a very significant part in turning people onto wine. I'll acknowledged that in previous posts.
Of course wine-pages devotees are not going to save Oddbins on their own. Incidentally the poll is on the main site and not the forum so the audience figures are likely to be higher than those signed up to the forum.
What I think is significant about the poll is that it indicates that wine enthusiasts, such as those who visit wine-pages, are not shopping at Oddbins. Had a similar poll been carried out in the 1990s then I suspect that virtually a 100% would have shopped at Oddbins.
I think the high street will lose most of its multiple wine merchants, although Majestic continues to grow. Instead many small independents have carved out niches for themselves.
Indeed you can see them as part of the renaissance of the small specialist shop as we are now seeing new high quality butchers, bakers and fishmongers opening up here in South London, for instance, and surviving some with queues out of the door on a Saturday morning.
Jim,
I agree with a lot of your comments, and visiting an Oddbins in Kensington a couple of weeks ago I was very disappointed with the choice, although it was still more interesting than the Tesco next door. I think we have to accept that a high street chain stocking the range of wines that might interest the readers of wine pages would be doomed to commercial failure. The way forward seems more likely internet sales or a very few small specialist shops scattered across the UK. I do perceive there's a polarisation in wine and food buying. Some specialist shops like the ones you mention will thrive but will be out of the budget of the vast majority of the population. The supermarkets will increase their share, both in larger stores and numerous "local" stores which are already forcing independent retailers out of business. I suppose I'm just nostalgic for how things used to be in my old North London stamping ground, and pleased with the shopping choices we have here in France.
There’s still another way round this problem, as Hervé Bizeul so often points out: making direct shopping from the winemaker easier in Europe. I don’t mean by that avoiding taxes – it won’t work – but just simplifying the administrative burden. The cost of transportation is not that high, as soon as you ship anything like 120 bottles at a time. If you want to buy a knife, or a painting, or a large photograph, or a computer, it works fine. The fact that governments charge excise and other taxes (in Belgium: wrapping tax !!) on wines and some other goods does not necessarily prevent direct importation.
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