June 2014 - WBC Blog

Yoshiko Wada brings Japanese fusion to Vallebona

Out & About 24 Jun 2014 Bobby Stearns

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You might expect to see this fancy crowd a few miles up the hill sipping crystal in the debenture enclosure of the All England Club. Instead, it was an industrial estate in Wimbledon that had these lucky food enthusiasts licking their lips.

Leading Sardinian and Italian artisan food importer, Vallebona, has been holding regular pop up events for some time now, and they sell out fast.

Customer’s and good friends of ours, we’ve known Vallebona for some time now and had a small hand in providing some of their retail display fixtures and fittings (see the results in Two days to turn an empty space into an Italian pop-up market). We also had a company wine tasting there a while back, so when company owner Stefano invited a couple of us to join him for a Pop Up demonstration with Japanese Fusion Chef Yoshiko Wada, we said yes without having to consult a menu.

Hammond’s family butcher goes under the knife

Retail Display 18 Jun 2014 Gerry Moss

Several weeks ago, we received a lovely phone call from retail consultant Jules Kane regarding a terrific project she was working on. A project that I just HAD to get involved with.

Frothy cappuccino in hand and three trains later, I made my way to meet Jules along with entrepreneur Dom Ferguson, in the fashionable enclave of Kew Bridge.

The ethos of Dom and Jules’ project was one which WBC fully subscribes to “a celebration of independent producers and a regeneration of our high streets.” What’s not to like about that?

Planning for Father’s Day – simple ways to sell to the manly

How to 10 Jun 2014 Gerry Moss

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Our protective Fathers help us build our dreams. They are devoted, motivating and inspirational. They give us the tools we need to succeed. Here I’ve selected two very special props for Father’s Day windows or merchandising: our gorgeous vintage wooden spade (£49 Ex Vat) and the vintage garden fork (£49 Ex Vat). Now I know it may seem sexist to some, but when merchandising the perfect themed window or display, you have but seconds to grab attention and set the scene.

Queen’s speech confirms 5p plastic bags levy

Bags for Life / Business Matters 4 Jun 2014 Bobby Stearns

Shoppers in England will have to pay 5p for plastic carrier bags from Monday in a bid to slash the 8 billion handed out every year. It's been a long…

Bags For Life ordering dates during Durga Puja

Bags for Life 4 Jun 2014 Bobby Stearns

It takes time to look this good. Which is just as well since when it comes to making bags for life, our INDIA ECONOMY SERVICE comes with a 12-14 week lead time. We know it might sound like a lot of weeks, but with it, you receive entirely bespoke bags for life, up to 25% cheaper than our UK EXPRESS SERVICE. With a little forward planning, time is a small price to pay for the quality and value for money you get at the end of it.

Ever heard of Durga Puja? The really colourful Indian festival that marks the victory of the Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Not ringing any bells? Well if you’re ever considering buying bags for life from India, it’s a festival worth knowing about because it affects your ordering dates.

Sip sip hooray!! It’s London Wine Fair 2014

How to / Out & About 3 Jun 2014 Gerry Moss

wl1 Off the tail end of London Wine Week which ended a matter of days ago, yesterday I dropped by the Olympia for the London Wine Fair. It’s on until the 4th of June if you fancy a trip down, and you can register to visit here.

With 12,000 wines, 130 tastings and seminars and 700 stands, London Wine Fair creates the opportunity for buyers and sellers – retailers, restaurateurs, merchants and MWs – to meet in person and build relationships.

It’s all about discovery. The discovery of new producers and the discovery of those passionate people whose job it is to distribute. But most importantly it’s a taste discovery; a chance to sample unusual wines from regions across the globe.

At WBC, our roots are steeped in the wine industry. We’ve been supplying many of the UK’s producers and retailers with gift packaging for wine, transit boxes for mail order as well as branded wine accessories like cork screws and glass jacks for a quarter of a century now. But as a retail developer, it’s our recent range of wine display fixtures we call the BRIX display system, which I’ve been excited to be a part of developing, that hopefully will have a positive impact on simple ways to display wine in a retail and exhibition environment.