? THE BURNING QUESTION

What are your busiest trading days of the week?

�Our shop is in the centre of York and there are visitors to the city all week looking for good wine and food. We can often get a higher spend per head from American and French visitors. We’re also lucky to have lots of locals who prefer to visit us on weekdays rather than the busy weekend. Off-trade is still best on Thursdays and Fridays as customers are looking for something good to drink at home at the weekend.”

Adrian Stancer Yards Wine Bar & Merchants, York

�Saturdays were hit-or-miss in March and April, with Thursday afternoons tending to see an uplift in footfall. But since May, Fridays and Saturdays have been the biggest days in store, with online sales generally quite heavy midweek. We tend to find the first three days of the week are customers who buy in bulk to keep their stocks full and the weekends are for those who are entertaining – or simply celebrating that they have made it through another week.”

Nicholas Payne H Champagne winner H Corks & Cru, Tiverton

�We haven’t really noticed much of a change in buying habits, despite more working from home and drinking-in. Our shop is away from the city centre so most of the time our customers are making a special journey in the car. So I would certainly say that Fridays and Saturdays are still our busiest days, but we are quite happy with that as we have an awareness for responsible drinking during the week and hope people are enjoying their wine mostly at the weekend.”

Patrick Jouan Le Bon Vin, Sheffield

�We have noticed an increase in sales on Wednesday and Thursday due to bank holidays and people staycationing. We’ve noticed a distinct increase in those not wanting to go abroad and heading for the Highlands. Often Thursdays have taken the place of a busy Friday with holidaymakers stocking up before a long weekend. Our Sundays have become busier because we’ve started tasting events. We noticed a customer need to engage again in person and enjoy talking about the wines rather than just popping in for a bottle or two.”

Champagne Gosset

The oldest wine house in Champagne: Äy 1584