Club seals reputation of independents.

(From Off Licence News)

Running a wine shop is not an easy way of making money . With customers distracted by gondola-end deals while they get their weekly groceries, and tempted by the internet, new tactics are called for to retain customer loyalty.

Wine clubs are often part of the solution. Most are not as polished as anything from the Direct Wines empire, as value-focused as Tesco or as exclusive as some of the highfalutin offerings from the tweedier regional merchants. Yet many have proved there is often strong local demand for regular tasting s that help people better understand what they drink, and to buy it a little more cheaply.

With modest ambitions, a little planning and some trial and error, wine clubs can yield dividends for even the smallest merchants. Two independents who have achieved success with their own clubs tell OLN how it was done.

Mumbles Fine Wines, Swansea For AGBP30 a year, members of the store's wine club receive invitations to bi-monthly tastings, discounts on the wines on offer, and a membership card entitling them to 10% off anything in the shop - excluding offers.

Manager Jon Moore says: "The first wine club we did was at the beginning of last year - we've only been open 18 months. When we started we had 15 or 20 members and now we've got two clubs going - the original one, which has 70 members and meets every other month , and another , which meets the months in between and has 38 members.

"At one point we had 100 members and the shop can only really comfortably fit in 30 people, but then there are always people who can' make it. We normally run the clubs over a Monday and Tuesday, but last November we had to do it on the Sunday as well because it was so popular." The club is aimed at everyone from experienced connoisseurs to people who "haven' got a clue about wine".