A Call to all kit brewers - Email Wilko's

[Donnydarko]

Hi all, i currently buy my kits from Wilkinsons where they only stock the "Werry" from the woodfordes range but at just £15 its a bargain price! i have emailed them from their website to request they stock more from the woodfordes range, at the same great price. Wilkos emailed me back saying they will take my request into consideration. Would help i think if as many people as possible send a similar email to them requesting they boost their range. The mail address is - customer.services@wilko.co.uk so come on all, lets see if we can get a better range of these quality kits at £15 a go.

[thedistiller]

www.creativewinemaking.co.uk is a homebrew shop the wooddforeds are £14.99 they stock the whole range and brupaks are £16.99 support your homebrew shops or they wont be around in years to come so what are you going to do then

[rick_huggins]

Wouldn't that just push the price up due to demand?

[Donnydarko]

Or.......maybe it would force Homebrew Stores to reduce thier prices, i'm not trying to have a hit at HB stores but i do want value for money, if wilko's can make a profit on them and other HB stores who sell them for 14.99 can then so can all the others. I do support HB stores for all my equipment etc but if i can get it cheaper else-where i will, sorry but thats the way it is in life. The HB stores would just have to give better value to match.

[sparky Paul]

if wilko's can make a profit on them and other HB stores who sell them for 14.99 can then so can all the others.

I see your point, but it doesn't necessarily follow. I'm not sure what the wholesale prices are for Woodeforde's kits, but even the more competitive shops seem to struggle to do them at £14.99 now.

Wilkos have huge buying power, and use this to negociate very good bulk deals for themselves. I know that they also make deals with suppliers which are for very long terms, and this can allow them to hold supplier prices down whilst others are subjected to rises. A good example of this was when all the existing contract with their wholesaler ended and Geordie products rose overnight at Wilkos by as much as 60%... note that this occured much later than the rest of the homebrew trade saw big increases. The Wherry kits have been at £14.99 in Wilkos for a very long time, and I wouldn't be surprised to see any new Woodefordes kits being added to their range at a higher price.

By all means, seek out the best value - I'm a bit of a tight arse myself - but don't disregard the independent specialist homebrew stores. Some of them are very competitive on certain products, as demonstrated above by thedistiller, most products can be found as cheap, and sometimes cheaper, if you are prepared to shop around. They also offer a more complete product range, and you can speak to someone who knows the products and their uses, and is often an enthusiast themselves.

[Donnydarko]

I do agree with what you say and dont get me wrong, all my equipment came from online HBS (i dont have a lhbs) rather than wilko's because it was better quality and therefore better value. It is a sad fact that companys like wilko's can supply cheaper but cheaper is cheaper! i will not pay more for something like beer kits etc to support local shops, i would love to be in a position where money was no object (wouldnt we all) and if that were so i would support HB stores. Many of us shop at Tesco / Asda instead of local butchers, grocers etc bacause they are cheaper and easier! it all boils down to cost for lots of us and i emailed wilko's to try and get them to do a bigger range or simply vary their woodfordes kits monthly and i'm urging other people to do so then we can all get better value. I'm not disregarding HBS just trying to get the best deal for my beer! on the large scale of things i dont think wilko's stocking a few more woodfordes kits cheaper is going to kill off HBS.

[sparky Paul]

but cheaper is cheaper!

Well, there's no arguing with that... and I do see what you are saying. What I was trying to say is that Wilkos is not the cheapest for most things, you just need to search out the cheapest internet suppliers, if that's your bent. To be honest, the Wherry kits are cheap at Wilkos, but most of their other stuff can be found cheaper.

Additionally, I've never found it difficult to plan ahead and make up orders big enough to qualify for the free shipping deals most of the shops offer.

i will not pay more for something like beer kits etc to support local shops, i would love to be in a position where money was no object (wouldnt we all) and if that were so i would support HB stores. Many of us shop at Tesco / Asda instead of local butchers, grocers etc bacause they are cheaper and easier!

Now there's another popular misconception, people are just conditioned into thinking these discount chains are always the cheapest. I buy all my meat from the local mobile butcher, and his is better quality and cheaper than the supermarkets - except for the 97p/lb MRM sausages... which I wouldn't want anyway.

And he stops outside my front door... it doesn't get much easier than that!

All I need now is a mobile homebrew supplier...

[Donnydarko]

sounds great, send that van round to my house and i will buy his meat (beef, pork, lamb etc.etc not the other....)

[sparky Paul]

I'm sure you would find a decent butcher round your way.

The MRM (mechanically recovered meat) sausages are those hideous things sold by the supermarkets... I saw some in Asda this week for 50p/lb!

Our butcher's sausages are quite a bit more expensive than the cheapest supermarket ones, but cheaper than their 'premium' sausages. I asked our butcher the other week why he never sells pork shoulder. He said, "I don't have any pork shoulder, that's what I make the sausage out of."

You can't beat proper butcher's sausages, all butchered meat and no crap. And I get free meaty bones for the dog!

[araldite]

http://www.creativewinemaking.co.uk is a homebrew shop the wooddforeds are £14.99 they stock the whole range and brupaks are £16.99 support your homebrew shops or they wont be around in years to come so what are you going to do then

Gotta say only been doing the wherrys a short time and really like the kit they have come from wilko's but the yeast as come from leyland hbs as part of other orders (have used s04).


I do love the price of the kits at wilko's but they dont have quality yeast, maybe we should actually support the hbs either local or online so you have got advice and good stock at the end of a phone line or over the counter.


Since i saw the other thread about the price and decent service at creativewinemaking i decided i would buy from them when my current kits had been used up, i do understand not everybody can afford £60 for the free p&p but if you can i think they are a bargain

[The Home Brew Shop]

Home Brew Shops are not wilko's they don't turn over millions per shop

Every Business has its plus and negative points and different overheads

Like us Once we move, our overheads will more then triple, this is the problem with small businesses, Some fold as they Don't have the money to expand and cant afford not too expand.

when we move-- see our post in the EVENTS section

We have got to move, we just cant cope with the lack of space where we are

But the problem with expanding to a much larger place will be the Rent at £30,000 a year that's not counting Rates, Corporation Tax, Service charges, Water, Electricity and all the rest we have to pay.
Not all shops can charge bargain prices as some run from homes, some from small shops, some from much larger premises
All have different fixed costs and all have a different break even margins.

Look at us we are not the cheapest on some things, we not the most expensive, but we pride ourselves on Knowledge and customer service for the past 40 years ( HAPPY BIRTHDAY to US, This month) that ONLY wilkos can dream off. Shops can't stay open if all they sell is better yeast for a kit that XYZ brought in Wilko's.

I would urge you all to support your local home brew shops, once they gone, they gone, I know for a fact that not all are doing great.

Adrian Green
The Home Brew Shop ( Farnborough)

[araldite]

"Shops can't stay open if all they sell is better yeast for a kit that XYZ brought in Wilko's".


in my defence i dont have a what i would call local hbs so i purchase online a lot, always spending at least the amount to qualify for free p&p

i do have a wilko's close and they have come in handy for small forgotten items wine yeast campden tablets etc.

but most of my buying is done online with leyland homebrew it being the first 1 i tried when returning to the hobby and having always recieved great service from them

[The Home Brew Shop]

Cool, Aralidite
Sorry when i ment support your home brew shops, I did also mean the Specialist Online home brew shops as well
as so many good shops also have good online shops as well.

[Lillywhite]

Look at us we are not the cheapest on some things, we not the most expensive, but we pride ourselves on Knowledge and customer service for the past 40 years ( HAPPY BIRTHDAY to US, This month) that ONLY wilkos can dream off.

For your information Wilkos started off as a family owned hardware shop in Leicester in the 1920's.

[sparky Paul]

Look at us we are not the cheapest on some things, we not the most expensive, but we pride ourselves on Knowledge and customer service for the past 40 years ( HAPPY BIRTHDAY to US, This month) that ONLY wilkos can dream off.

For your information Wilkos started off as a family owned hardware shop in Leicester in the 1920's.

I think the point Adrian was trying to make is that they have 40 years experience specialising in the homebrewing trade.

No offence to those working in Wilkos, I know quite a few people that work at the Manton Wood head office and distribution centre, but there's no way you will get the same level of support and advice that a specialist shop can offer.

1930 was a very long time ago, and Wilkinson's now is a very different beast.