Liquor store set for Walker St
Perfect match: Paul Woodward at the proposed bottle shop.
HELENSBURGH resident and professional cellarmaster Paul Woodward is “absolutely confident” his proposal to open a liquor store in the old hardware store in Walker Street will be approved.
Mr Woodward, who plans to open the store under the banner of the small, privately owned Chambers Cellars, said the difference between his proposal and two previous plans was that money generated from the outlet would stay in the area.
“Chambers Cellars is not a huge multinational – we will service the local community and give them what they want, when they want it for the right price,” he said.
“We’re not huge discounters and, if you try to compete on price, you won’t get to first base.”
Mr Woodward said the liquor store’s point of difference would be the vast knowledge he and his locally employed staff would bring to the customer experience.
“The training will be second to none,” he said, adding that “food matches” would be their specialty.
“People can come in and ask what beer or wine goes with a certain type of food and we can advise them.”
Mr Woodward hopes the Chambers Cellars bottle shop will be open by mid-year, featuring regular brands as well as unique Australian and imported wines and beers.
“We will be very competitive on imported beers,” he said. “The Belgium beers like Heineken and Becks are particularly good and the cellar door wines are as good, if not better, than the big players.
“We will also have a range of Grange wines and we will be able to get anything within five days, even if customers want specialist spirits.”
Mr Woodward was previously a state sales manager for Fosters and the national retail manager for Liquorland Australia, which has about 600 stores. He also worked for Boag’s and most recently Chambers Cellars, which tasked him with finding a site in the region.
He said the shop at 37 Walker Street – recently renovated by builder/developer Willie Canavan – had “a good template to work with”.
Mr Canavan said the lease for the 250sq m store, which received its occupation certificate last week, was dependent on the liquor licence being approved.
“Competition is healthy,” he said.
A notice of intention to apply for a liquor licence was lodged with the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing last Tuesday, December 20.
