Venerable London wine merchant Berry Brothers & Rudd has opened its fourth Heathrow boutique in the giant airport’s Terminal 2.
The retailer now has shops in all four Heathrow terminals.
Situated just after check-in and security control, Berry’s says the stores sell wines for ‘impulse buying’ as well as pre-ordered, tax-free bottles.
Berry’s are placing particular emphasis on their pre-order web service which allows customers to order any wine in the Berry’s catalogue at tax-free prices. The bottles are then picked up at the boutique in the terminal.
Most bottles do not stay in the United Kingdom very long, however, as the service is only open to ‘bone fide international departing passengers’, says the Berry’s website. Only people flying within the European Union can collect their bottles on their return.
Customers do stand to make substantial savings on wines in the Berry’s catalogue, which include bottles of Château Pétrus 1982, Palmer 1961 and a Jeroboam of Mouton-Rothschild 2000. The latter costs £2,110 (€3,083) – a saving of £369.70 (€539) on the usual Berry’s price.
According to Berry’s the average sale is slightly lower – around £250 (€365) – with impulse customers generally spending around £50 (€73). Those flying to North America are the main patrons of the service.
Berry’s plans to have a store in the forthcoming Terminal 5 when it opens in 2008.
‘We are Heathrow-wide and that is how we would like to stay,’ a spokeswoman said.
Written by Oliver Styles
