Hastings Co-op’s Wauchope Supa IGA Plus Liquor was among the most successful at the 2016 Independent Brands Australia (IBA) Retailer and Supplier Awards. The bottle shop not only won National Liquor Retailer of the Year and National IGA Retailer of the Year, but also NSW/ACT Liquor Retailer of the Year and NSW/ACT IGA Liquor Retailer of the Year.
The store is one of three bottle shops within Hastings Cooperative in Hastings Valley in New South Wales. The other bottle shops include Timbertown Supa IGA Plus Liquor and The Bottle-O drive through, which are all run by Liquor Manager Lisa Attkins.
In an interview with drinks, Attkins said the awards had been recognised as a great achievement by the store’s staff and Hastings Co-op.
“I have a really great team and customers,” Attkins said. “We’re really proud, especially considering that there are so many good liquor retailers out there.”
At the beginning of December, the team at Wauchope Supa IGA invited customers to celebrate at the store with free tastings, nibbles and specials.
Attkins has worked in liquor retailing for ten years and says she “loves the customers more than anything.”
“Woking in the liquor shop is probably the best place to work,” she explained. “It’s like family and everyone’s happy; the staff that work for me are just great and it’s a great community to live in.”
When talking about successful liquor retailing, Attkins highlighted good working relationships with customers, staff, sales representatives and suppliers as being key. Attkins also said that the local co-op and IBA model provide strong support to the stores.
“Our cooperative is 100 years old and includes 14 businesses in total,” Attkins said. The cooperative has a number of shareholders who are also regular customers to Attkins’ stores. “We are community owned and operated. We have dedicated customers, the majority of whom we know, so we know what they want and what they like. We have a head office, which is a support to us too and we have a good reputation.”
As a member of the IBA network, the stores also receive help with competing against the chains and access to a broad range of liquor products through Australian Liquor Marketers.
“Competition is always an issue, particularly with competing with the larger chains on pricing, so we think of alternatives instead, such as providing excellent customer service and sourcing products if we don’t have them but our customers want them,” Attkins said.
Attkins has also implemented a wine card at the stores she manages, which means customers get a free bottle of wine for every four bottles that are purchased. “Our customers love it,” Attkins added. “It’s a good opportunity for them to try something new.”
When asked about top products this summer, Attkins said craft beer is already selling well and reckons that flavoured beer will be big this year.
Image: Hastings Co-op Liquor Division – Kelvin Kelly, Lisa Attkins and Kylie Joseph
