Diageo to tie up with premium wine outlets

Diageo, a leading premium liquor company which sells brands such as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan, is tying up with premium wine outlets across the country to restructure them as walk-in shops.

Christened Johnnie Walker Select, Diageo will offer international expertise to revamp the outlets, where customers can walk into the liquor shop to touch and feel the product like he does in a duty-free shop.

"Diageo will make an upfront investment of Rs 35-40 lakh in each outlet and make it a great international shopping experience. We are planning to revamp at least 25 outlets in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chandigarh and the National Capital Region," Asif Adil, managing director, Diageo India, said.

The first outlet, where other brands apart from Diageo will be available, will come up shortly in Pali Hill near Bandra, a Mumbai suburb.

Diageo has recently set up a bartending academy in Mumbai to teach serving of liquor at shops. "Serving as well as shopping is equally important. We are also planning to sell Diageo products such as Diageo umbrellas and T-shirts in the outlet," Adil said.

In these outlets, there would be computer-aided kiosks to source more information on the products and a gift-wrapping counter, he added.