Independent Liquor Group’s (ILG) new Fleet Street banner group is expanding into Queensland with the first store set to open in Brisbane in March.
Fleet Street is ILG’s new premium offering which launched its flagship store at The Commodore Hotel at McMahons Point in July last year.
Since then, five more stores have opened across New South Wales, and the interest in the new model has been so great that CEO Paul Esposito is expecting there will be 20 stores operating by the end of 2020.
“Our Fleet Street banner group is growing in numbers, with six stores operating in NSW over the festive season, all showing good growth in sales and foot traffic,” says Esposito.
“We currently have six more in the works for NSW, and we will be launching our first store in Brisbane over the next few weeks. We envisage with the current interest in the marketplace, ILG will have close to 20 stores operating by the end of 2020.
The Fleet Street model targets the premiumisation trend with ranging focussed on medium to top-end products.
At the time of launch, Esposito told The Shout: “It’s more about giving the consumer a shoppable experience. Just because it is premium, doesn’t mean we are inflating the pricing. The focus is more about the premium brands, at a reasonable price, bringing people back from online and bringing them into stores.”
The Annual Industry Leaders Forum edition of National Liquor News will feature more from Paul Esposito about ILG’s successes from 2019 and plans for 2020. It will be available in February.