Australia’s top independent bottle shops have been honoured at the 2019 IBA National Retailer of the Year awards.
IBA is the second-largest network of liquor retail outlets in Australia, with approximately 2700 stores. The IBA network includes bottle shops such as Cellarbrations, The Bottle-O, IGA Liquor, Duncans, Thirsty Camel, Big Bargain and Porters.
The winners of the 2019 awards were announced during a gala dinner at the conclusion of the 2019 IBA Trade Workshop on the Gold Coast.
The National Retailer of the Year award went to Cellarbrations Baldivis in Western Australia (below), with its manager Richard Orton also taking out the Store Manager of the Year.
The bottle shop noted: “Our store and team being awarded best store nationally came as such a huge but rewarding shock. A tip of the hat that our passion and hard work really paid off.
“We just wanted to put a HUGE thank you out there to our customers and team. We wouldn’t be able to love our jobs as much as we do without you all being a part of it. We look forward to our continuous friendship and be sure to come down and celebrate with us all!”
ALM CEO Chris Baddock said: “During the now 10 weeks that I’ve been in the role, I’ve just been amazed by the quality of our stores,” he said.
“They are best in the liquor industry and they’re best in class. It’s not just the look of the store, it is the passion that storekeepers bring to the consumer.”
Another accolade for Lion
Supplier of the Year was awarded to Lion, which follows the brewer taking out Supplier of the Year and the Supply Chain Management Award at the 2019 Australian Drinks Awards.
The award was accepted by Lion’s Grant Howard (above), who noted: “We are appreciative of the support of so many IBA retailers, committee members and the entire ALM staff. As I have been reminded, these awards are hard to win and easy to lose the year after. Here’s to doubling down in the next 12 months.”
National Sales Director Mark Powell added: “At Lion, we aim to put our customers at the heart of everything we do. We have a fantastic team who is absolutely committed to achieving the best possible results for our customers – and working collaboratively with them to set them up for success.”
Baddock (above) concluded that the conference hadn’t been all talk and action was coming for bottle shops in the IBA network: “I know that we’ve said a lot and I know that I may have given a few promises. That’s the easy stuff, now we are going to go and deliver that. I will promise you that that is what we will strive to do every day, because independents are worth fighting for.”
See the full list of best independent bottle shops below:
Inaugural 2019 IBA Hall of Fame Inductee – Anita Grace (Cellarbrations Newman WA)
NSW & ACT Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019 – Cellarbrations Tamworth Superstore (Tanya & Shane Madden)
NSW & ACT The Bottle-O Retailer of the Year 2019 – The Bottle-O Killarney Vale (Steve Kotezsky)
NSW & ACT IGA Liquor Retailer of the Year 2019 = Hastings Co-op Supa IGA Wauchope (Lisa Attkins)
NSW & ACT Porters Retailer of the Year 2019 – Porters Lansvale (Thanh Hiep Le)
NSW & ACT Thirsty Camel Retailer of the Year 2019 – Sawtell Hotel (Martin Short)
QLD Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019Cellarbrations Narangba Valley Tavern – (Bruce Donnachy)
QLD The Bottle-O Retailer of the Year 2019 – The Bottle-O Beachhouse Airport Urangan (Paul Robbins)
QLD Thirsty Camel Retailer of the Year 2019 – Capricorn Tavern Yeppoon (Bill Reid)
VIC Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019 – Cellarbrations Superstore Kilmore (Matty France)
VIC The Bottle-O Retailer of the Year 2019 – The Bottle-O Numurkah (Don Kerry)
VIC IGA Liquor Retailer of the Year 2019 – Supa IGA Corowa (Brian Waldron)
TAS Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019 – Cellarbrations Huonville (Rob Flynn & Matt Griggs)
TAS Big Bargains Bottleshop Retailer of the Year – Speyton Bottleshop (Mark Cadle)
TAS Thirsty Camel Retailer of the Year – Marquis Hotel (Jason Atkins)
WA Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019 – Cellarbrations Baldivis (Patrick Rock)
WA The Bottle-O Retailer of the Year 2019 – The Bottle-O North Road (Mark and Simone Stanton)
NT Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year 2019 – Cellarbrations Gateway Select Wines (Justin Coleman)
NT The Bottle-O Retailer of the Year 2019 – The Bottle-O Pit Lane Liquor (Lis Idsenga)
SA Cellarbrations Retailer of the Year – Cellarbrations Mount Barker (Joanne Elson)
2019 Overall State IBA Five Star Award Winners
NSW Retailer Winner- Cellarbrations Tamworth, NSW
QLD Retailer Winner – Cellarbrations Narangba Valley Tavern, QLD
VIC Retailer Winner – Corowa SUPA IGA Liquor, VIC
TAS Retailer Winner – Cellarbrations Huonville, TAS
WA Retailer Winner – Cellarbrations Baldivis, WA
SA Retailer Winner – Cellarbrations Mount Barker, SA
NT Retailer Winner – The Bottle-O Pit Lane, NT
2019 National IBA Five Star Award Winners
Business Development Manager of the Year Winner – Chris Burnett, VIC
Supplier of the Year Winner – Lion
Store Manager of the Year – Richard Orton, Cellarbrations Baldivis, WA
National Retailer of the Year – Cellarbrations Baldivis, WA (Patrick Rock)
