It appears that the remaining 48 Oddbins are to close – not confirmed. Still no definite answer to who has bought the Oddbins' brand – some say Whittalls, while others Simon Baile and Henry Young. If a deal has been done over the brand name and after all Lee Manning of Deloitte told me Tuesday morning that the intellectual property rights had been sold, why is the buyer still secret? Not another of those superinjunctions!?
Update (28.4.2011): I gather the brand name has not been bought by Simon Baile. Just as well as the failure by Oddbins under Baile to develop its on-line sales must be one of the contributory factors in the company's collapse.
We were told at 6.30 tonight. Boxes arriving tomorrow to pack up all the stock which will be collected on Tuesday. Been told that the only shops not closing are Royal Mile and the Irish shops.
ReplyDeleteOddbins
ReplyDeleteRIP
I can confirm we were indeed told this evening that the plug had been pulled. I shut shop for the last time tonight.
ReplyDeleteI am deeply saddend by the way this has been handled.
Good night all and good luck to all those left behind by "EFB".....
I also closed up for the last time tonight, after having confirmation about 6.30-7pm. My understanding is that the company that is delivering the boxes and taking them away knew a few hours before anybody employed by Oddbins. Fairly typical of the last few weeks, really.
ReplyDeletethis matches what I've been told - today was our last trading day; packing up tomorrow; only Royal Mile staying open, but to continue under a new name / new owners
ReplyDeleteThis is so so sad. Simon Baile is going to have this well-earned albatross round his neck the rest of his life. 37 branches converted to a kind of mid-90s Victoria Wine, a hundred branches lost.
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with the Oxford High Street branch in 1995 and knew that Oddbins was the only company I wanted to work for. In 2001 I became zero hours at the Chorlton-cum-Hardy branch, then assistant manager in Didsbury. Then to London working around 25 hours a week from 2003 to Jan 09 when Baile/Young brought in their overtime ban. Then just doing the ten hours a week of my contract, based at Pimlico, Ken High Street and finally Horseferry Road in Westminster. I worked at about 35 different branches over the years and loved most of them (one felt a bit surplus to requirements when working in the Bramhall branch)
Thanks to one thing and then the other my nine and a half years saw the company slowing sinking into the mire. Some of the decisions made by panicky management were hilarious. My favourite example was the idea that we should get rid of the talkers on the bottles because people didn't want to read about the wine they were chosing.
Baile brought in some good wine which at least brightened our hearts after Cartel's cynicism, but his cunning plan for running a large chain with no money was ultimately a disgraceful thing to do.
So farewell Oddbins, I loved you from the bottom of my heart, loved keeping the bottles looking fresh and ready for action, loved dispatching them off to my lovely customers. You were never quite what I fell for in 1995, but I didn't mind. In a desperately bleak British retail environment, you remained a place where thoughtful kind-hearted people could give a fuck.
Richard Arundel
I heard the news from colleagues tonight, our shop has been bought by whittals. We hope it will be positive but don't hold out. I really feel for the rest of the closing shops a sad end to a good company to work for. I was with Oddbins for 4 years and have worked with the best group of guys and girls.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Richard, beautifully put.
ReplyDeleteTold tonight at 6pm that we were closing for good in 3 hrs time.
ReplyDeleteAsked my Wine Advisor to wish my regulars well as this last day was my day off.
Packing up early tomorrow. Very sad times and so soul-wrecking considering how much effort we had put into telling our customers things would be ok and making the shop look full(ish) since Christmas.
No support, no answers, no updates. Typical of the last few weeks since we closed shops in March.
Thank you to all Oddbinites for making this job so much fun.