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Oddbins was great when it was still an independent chain prior to the Seagrams purchase.


It had a genuine ethos and passion for wine, and every new employee had to do a 3 month stint as a shop assistant regardless of the position so that wine knowledge and appreciation of the the coal face of the business percolated throughout.


It did suffer as a result of the buyout and a lot of the core talent, enthuiasm and knowledge moved on to pastures new.


But I always liked the brand and concept, I hope the new owners make a good stab of it.

The fact they are taking over the Spirited Wines location sort of completes a circle. Oddbins was sold to Seagrams who in turn sold it to Castel Fr?res who rebranded some of the stores as Nicolas. Castel Fr?res then sold some of the Nicolas stores to Spirited Wines who now seem to be selling to Oddbins. Plus ?a change etc etc

Sophron Wrote:

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> better than many alternatives that i can think of (amusement arcade, poundland, mobile phone etc etc.)




Amusement Arcade? When was the last time you saw one of those open on a high street?


I'd never really used poundland and the like before, but since moving to Penge this year I have totally fallen for the 99p store! 6 k!tchen rolls for a quid, what's not to love?

Otta Wrote:

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> Amusement Arcade? When was the last time you saw one of those open on a high street?


There's one in Peckham now. Sort of. Well, a bar with 15 or so retro arcade machines.


But I think Sophron probably meant one of those places with loads of fruit machines and a sign saying "casino" outside. Like what the boho bar used to be, innit.

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