Big bargains as beer wars bubble over amid Dan Murphy’s arrival

Beer drinkers are looking like the big winners as retail beer price wars break out following the opening of the first Dan Murphy’s bottle shop in Hobart.

9/11 bottle shop retail attendant Patrick Kelly. Picture: PATRICK GEE

BEER drinkers are looking like the big winners as retail beer price wars break out following the opening of the first Dan Murphy’s bottle shop in Hobart.

Liquor heavyweight Dan Murphy’s officially opened its New Town warehouse store to the public on Friday at the Maypole Hotel site.

SELECT FEW PREVIEW DAN MURPHY’S STORE

The company’s price-beat guarantee already appears to be shaking up Hobart’s retail alcohol industry, with competitors this week setting beer prices at levels designed to keep customers happy.

Dan Murphy’s member-exclusive pricing had some beer six packs listed on its website for as little as $11.

While its value-for-money policy promised it would beat competitor pricing, an assessment of its beer prices by the Mercury against prices at Vantage Group-owned bottle shop 9/11 showed a large range of Tasmanian-made beer was advertised cheaper at 9/11.

Vantage Group general manager Martin Kelly said 9/11 had long been preparing for Dan Murphy’s opening and was prepared to lessen its competitor’s impact.

“Of course having a massive interstate discount chain like Dan Murphy’s enter the market will have an impact but we’ve been planning for it and we’ve had the experience before when they opened in Launceston,” he said.

“We’ve been able to mitigate their impact up in Launceston by doing what all good Tasmanian businesses do, by offering great customer service and staying true to the Tasmanian brand, Tasmanian products and Tasmanian suppliers.”

Mr Kelly said 9/11’s conveniently located stores were another of the reasons it remained a popular bottle shop among Tasmanians.

Dan Murphy’s New Town store manager Sam Mansfield said the company was well stocked to offer Hobartians the best prices in town.

“We don’t just match competitors’ prices, we have a team dedicated to checking every bottle shops ad across Tasmania and interstate to make sure our prices are the best in the country,” he said.

“Our range of local produce is one of the best in Australia.”

Dan Murphy’s Victoria and Tasmania general manager Darren Manning said planning for additional Dan Murphy’s bottle shops in southern Tasmania was “in the pipeline”.