By Ian Neubauer
Award-winning independent Sydney liquor retailer Kemenys has accused Dan Murphy’s of covering up the truth to promote its ‘price promise’ campaign, using its full-page newspaper ads to shame the Woolworths-owned liquor chain over the incident.
An ad for Kemenys that appeared in the weekend (Jun 6-7) edition of The Sydney Morning Herald shows a photograph allegedly taken inside an unidentified Dan Murphy’s store in Sydney.
The photograph shows print ads from Kemenys and other retailers pinned on an in-store noticeboard festooned with ‘Beaten!’ stickers to show it had beaten its competitors’ prices.
Kemenys takes on Dan Murphy’s in The SMH
Kemenys is alleging the stickers were strategically placed over individual wines Dan Murphy’s sells at higher prices and accused the large-format retailer of misleading its customers.
“In the particular store we looked at, [they] have in fact selectively covered our best offers with their ‘Beaten!’ sticker and then found ways to continue not to beat our offers,” the ad stated.
“We consider Woolworths past, present and apparently continuing actions to be damaging.”
Headlined ‘What are you hiding Dan Murphy’s?’, the ad is the second in a weekly series publicising the alleged cover up and alleges Woolworths has failed to take action to investigate or remedy the allegations.
Contacted today (Jun 10), Woolworths told TheShout it was flattered other businesses were talking about its price promise but declined to comment on the allegations.
“We are focused on our business and nothing else,” the spokesperson said. “Our ultimate judge will always be the customer.”
Established in Bondi in 1960, Kemenys is one of Australia’s leading independent wine merchants, with a comprehensive website and call centre. It has dominated the Australian Liquor Industry Award (ALIA) retailer title during the awards’ 15-year history.