Media Release
16 October 2014

STEPPING STONE
LK OPEN THEIR NEWEST STORE AT STONEFIELDS, AUCKLAND

Innovative liquor retailer LK is not letting the grass grow under its feet – or perhaps it is, in taking its newest store to Stonefields, the new village suburb that rose from the ashes of Auckland’s former Mt Wellington quarry.

Due to open on 24 October, this latest LK addition mirrors the growing popularity of liquor/traditional fine-wine stores nationwide, which have been snapping at the heels of supermarket sales.*

The Stonefields store’s range of quality wines, beers and spirits will beckon shoppers keen to enjoy their vast selection, including Cuisine’s latest award-winning pinot noirs, sparkling wines and Champagnes, popular LK Craft Beer Club picks, the resurgence of vodka and the debut of flavoured spirits in the vein of spiced and golden rum varietals.

Many store exclusives at excellent prices highlight premium wine and spirits brands from within the Lion portfolio of the parent company. International wines and non-alcoholic Hopt are other drawcards, as are the perennial summer favourite, rosé.

Managers in the 39 stores across the country know their stuff and Kiwi Penny Powell, store manager at the new Stonefields site, is no exception. Her CV is dotted with restaurateur employers such as Stephanie Alexander in Melbourne and Paul Heathcote in Manchester; she managed Maison Blanc, a French patisserie in London; and loved working with a mainly French team at a resort in the Isle of Scilly, where “wine matching was a constant daily discussion”. She and her chef/patissier husband also set up and ran two local-favourite licensed Auckland cafés, Servo and Swanson Station, from 2000 to 2010.

There is a specialist wine team at LK stores across New Zealand with five outlets with sommeliers. Sauvignon blanc and pinot gris still lead the pack in shopper demand, says LK marketing and merchandise manager, Glen McCracken, with $20-$30 chardonnay close behind. “Wine drinkers are also recognising the quality and value of Marlborough pinot noir as a popular alternative to the key red region of Central Otago.”

While Stonefields is for now the newest kid on the block, the LK launch pad continues. More new retail hotspots and revamped existing stores are due for completion before the end of the year.

* Latest Retail Watch Statistics for the July quarter 2014 show a growth of 4.1 percent in sales in ‘Liquor Stores’ to $175.3 million versus the July quarter 2013.

Retail Watch is developed using Business and Insight Data. This is a unique database that is a result of a joint initiative between Westpac and Datamine. The dataset contains over five years of transactional data and accesses credit card and eftpos transactions.

ENDS

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