Tuesday 29 December 2009

Wetherspoons January Sale

In a move that will doubtless infuriate alcohol puritans, Wetherspoons will be running a January sale for two weeks from the 4th to the 19th, reintroducing their 99p pint offer that annoyed the brewery Greene King whose IPA was the beer concerned.  GK said the price undervalued their quality product, although many drinkers felt GK should look up '"quality" in the dictionary.  This time the beer on offer will be GK's Ruddles Bitter, which is nothing to get excited about either.  The deal will also include glasses of wine, shots of gin and bottled lager, and some meals will be sold cheaply too. 

Some people get sniffy about Wetherspoons.  I'm not a regular Spoons-goer myself, but their pricing policies are a challenge to the other pub companies (PubCos) who screw their licensees into the ground.  The argument made by many (including a local licensee on this blog last month) is that Wetherspoons can sell cheaply as they have enormous buying power.  This ignores the fact that all the other PubCos (Punch, S&N, etc.) have enormous buying power too, but they don't pass on the savings to their licensees and customers.  Whether you like them or not, Wetherspoons shouldn't be criticised for running a much more efficient business than their fellow PubCos.

In the meantime, you can have a cheap night out, both food and drink, in January if you want.

5 comments:

  1. Nev, apologies for posting this unrelated reponse here, but I just thought you & your followers might like to know about the 2 for the price of 1 deal on tickets for the Imagined Village gig at The Phil on 18th Jan.

    If you go to the Phil website,

    http://www.liverpoolphil.com/?lid=2135/

    click on Book Tickets, then type 08CARD into the promo code box, the discount is applied. I'm not sure if you absolutely need an 08-Card, but if anyone's worried about that, I think you can still get them free online.

    I missed the band in 2008, but won't make that mistake in 2010 - to me they're one of the best new things in folk music in years.

    Cheers & all the best for the firkin & folking year ahead!
    MikeMcG.

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  2. January is the time of year many like to detox, lay off the grog, join gyms. A promotion at this time makes sense to keep people in the habit of using your service. MacDonalds have promotions on at this time too, usually.

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  3. MicMac: I don't mind that unrelated comment at all. I saw the Imagined Village at the Phil last year, and I'd fully endorse what you say. They're worth seeing full price ~ 2 for 1 is an excellent deal.

    Cooking Lager: you're right, of course. The reason why it's worthy of comment is that Spoons is the only PubCo doing it. You just can't imagine any of the others considering such an idea for a nanosecond, can you?

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  4. Thanks for the top tip about The Imagined Village. Heard about this project while I was enjoying/enduring an epic circuit around India last year. Staggeringly good production values and even more innovative than Bellowhead. Top trumps!

    Will you be in attendance, Sir Nev? Just confirmed the Ellis party will be in full force.

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  5. Hi folks,
    RedNev, I'm glad you didn't mind the intrusion & am even happier that SW above has been moved to go to the gig!

    They've a new CD out in a week or two, there's some really interesting info about how it came about on their MySpace site -

    http://www.myspace.com/theimaginedvillage

    when they were recording/writing/rehearsing they became temporary villagers in a real Dorset village, "The local pub started running folk sessions, a curry night based on band recipes was established - the drummer's fish curry being the local's favourite." - see there is a tenuous beery/folky link in all my wittering :~)

    Cheers,
    Mike.

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