In the right spirit

Dowdy wine and liquor shops are making way for swankier alternates.

Seeking first-mover advantage, a Mumbai-based entrepreneur has designed the country's first branded shop-in-shop format for selling wine in modern retail.

Living Liquidz opened its first 400 square feet store within Spencer's at Mumbai's Inorbit mall in May, and has tied up exclusive contracts with hypermarket chains Spinach and Foodland for the regions of Mumbai and Pune.

Currently, Maharashtra and Karnataka allow wine on organised retail shelves, and Delhi permits beer, but other states are quickly following suit. Living Liquidz hopes to operate 160 points of sale across India by mid-2008, including hypermalls in Gurgaon and Bangalore in the next three months.

Mokssh Sani, managing director, Living Liquidz, is himself a case in point for the transformation of liquor distribution in the country. His family has 30 years of experience running 26 traditional "wine shops" across Mumbai and Thane. Now he hopes to set new benchmarks, including becoming the first to sell wines at lifestyle stores.

"Having been in the business, I know exactly how uninspiring it is to shop for a bottle of wine. It is usually chauffeurs that are sent, so there's a fixed shopping list and little to no product awareness at the point of purchase."

But the most perceivable difference to consumers, according to Sani, will be the option of walking in, browsing and picking up their product of choice, instead of buying over the counter. Sani also hopes to be able to churn out enough volumes to offer price competitiveness.

Over the weekend, Living Liquidz offered free wine tastings from some of its repertoire of 180 wine brands at one of its outlets. "Tastings are usually conducted by-invite only; now the common man will have access to them," says Sani.

Eventually Living Liquidz will retail beer and spirits, once regulatory approvals for putting hard spirits on the shelves are clinched.

Spirits companies are already striking exclusive alliances with retail biggies to monopolise shelf space. Radico Khaitan was reported to have struck a joint venture partnership with the Future group for exclusive shelf space, although the latter denies it.

Diageo, the world's largest spirits manufacturer, is also being proactive. It has tied up with premium wine outlets to rejuvenate consumer experience via its Johnnie Walker brand.

Creating an "international shopping experience", the first of these Johnnie Walker Select outlets, resembling "" in its slickness "" a bar, just opened in Mumbai. Prominent retail display at each of these stores will be devoted to Diageo's premium brands although brands of other companies will also be sold. A kiosk, installed by

Diageo, guides consumers through their choice of appropriate mixers and even cocktail recipes. Diageo is hoping to bait consumers with smaller value-adds like valet parking, air-conditioning and gift wrapping facilities.

And while Diageo says its contribution extends only to providing expertise, sources say the company is making investments to the tune of Rs 40 lakh to revamp each outlet.

"Every vendor would be more than happy to participate in creating the proper retail environment if given the opportunity," says Thomas Sauzet, GM marketing, Grover Vineyards, which retails from supermarket chains like Haiko and Hypercity. Sauzet says Grovers will provide staff training facilities and sponsor consumer tastings in the future.

Living Liquidz will soon accept customer orders online. It seems the day is near when consumers will no longer have to walk away shifty-eyed from wine shops with their bacchanalian vices wrapped up in brown paper bags.