Trust House announces bottle store sale
Trust House has announced the sale of its Masterton bottle store ‘The Bottle O’ to Big Barrel Group Ltd.
The store has been owned and operated by Trust House on its Russell Street site since 1977 under various names including Wholesale Bottle Store, Joseph Masters, Liquor Plus and Liquorland Wairarapa.
Trust House chief executive, Allan Pollard, said while the store had been an iconic retail outlet in Masterton for more than 30 years, poor returns, ever-decreasing margins and rising costs now made it unviable for Trust House. “It is the right time sell and concentrate on other areas of our business that will return greater value back to our community.”
With a head office in Napier, Big Barrel is a family owned and operated business with 27 bottle stores mostly in the lower North Island. “The company has an excellent reputation in the industry for well-appointed stores that are managed efficiently by well-trained staff and will be an asset for Masterton,” Mr Pollard said.
“We are now working through the sale process with the purchaser which includes retaining as many of the store’s seven full and part-time employees as possible.” The business will change ownership in early December this year.
This sale means that Trust House will no longer own any standalone retail bottle stores in Masterton.
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Further information from:
Allan Pollard, Chief Executive, Trust House Ltd, Ph: 06 370 0520 or 027 493 3507