By Andy Young
Next year will see the formation of a new national retail banner group, with more than 500 stores and with plans to become one of Australias top five liquor buyers.
The overall group will be known as Pentagon Ventures, but the actual retail trading name for banner group is, as yet, undecided. Regulatory approvals are now in place and so the group is working hard to launch for Easter 2016.
An industry source told TheShout: There is a group being formed right now that will effectively become one of the top five liquor customers in Australia. Were talking bigger than Thirsty Camel, we talking bigger than ILG. It will be up there challenging the likes of IBA, LMG; it's on that sort of scale.
This a group of like-minded independent retailers, who are coming together to create a genuine alternative route to market. When you start talking about being one of the top five liquor customers nationally, that is a pretty big and a serious thing for the country.
As an idea of the scale of the new banner group, Thirsty Camel currently has 450 stores and the Liquor Marketing Group represents more than 1400 independent operators in the off-premise market.
The source revealed that although suppliers will not yet be aware that this group is coming, when it does launch it will provide them with a one point of contact, simpler route to market.
The source added: The supplier community is reorganising at the moment, with their changing structures and there is a desire from the supplier community to simplify their route to market and to have a single point of contact. This is one of the things that this group of customers is putting in place.
The group will be increasing volume, shifting share, pricing and retail execution. This is about providing a genuine alternative route to market for the larger suppliers.
As negotiations among the retailers go on with the formation of the group, things have been kept very quiet, especially while the group has been working on regulatory approvals across the country. But according to TheShouts source, those approvals seem to have been achieved, so the group is now preparing to engage with a selection of suppliers, which will be by invitation only, with a view to launching by Easter next year.
The group is hoping to make a formal announcement by the end of December.