We are thrilled to have been selected as finalists at the SIBA Business Awards 2022 under the category of Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer (multiple).
Our two shops, Porthmadog and Betws-y-Coed are important cogs of the Purple Moose wheel, a fact amplified by lockdowns that caused pubs to close and our cask sales to plummet. During this time our brewery shops provided an outlet for our beers, and a much-needed income to help get Purple Moose Brewery through the various lockdowns. We decided to enter the shops in to this award as recognition of the great work by all staff over the past 2 years.
We opened our first shop in the brewery premises in Porthmadog in 2005, selling bottled beer and merchandise. It served its purpose for several years but with the back-street location of the brewery, we knew we needed to relocate the shop to an area with higher footfall. In 2015, we took that plunge and moved our shop onto Porthmadog High Street.
With a new shop came new ideas, we identified a great opportunity, not only to fill the shelves with our beers, but to showcase the fantastic beers being brewed all over Wales. The idea behind this was so locals could benefit from locally sourced products and tourists had the opportunity to try the amazing produce of Wales. With the stocked range including a wide range of beers, ciders and spirits from over 40 different Welsh producers.
Even with the positive increase in footfall at the shop on the High Street, we still felt that we could locate the shop somewhere more central for our customers. A retail space came up for lease at the top of Porthmadog High Street in late 2019, only two doors down from our brewery tap, The Australia - a perfect location. The very day we opened the doors to our relocated shop, lockdown was announced! Although it was a very rocky rollercoaster, by 2022 the shop is at its best and proving us right that the relocation was the way to go.
In light of this, we took the decision to open a second brewery shop, in the heart of Snowdonia National Park and the busy tourist hot-spot of Betws-y-Coed. With a similar look and feel to our Porthmadog shop, the Betws-y-Coed shop opened in April 2021. In just 8.5 months of trading, to the end of the calendar year, it matched the previous annual sales record for our Porthmadog shop. It is continuing to grow in popularity as more locals and visitors find out about it and enjoy the range of Welsh drinks on offer.
We are very excited to be attending the SIBA Business Awards 2022 which will be presented on 16th of March at BeerX UK in Liverpool. Proud to be a fellow finalist to three other great Independent Craft Beer Retailers, Ghost Whale, Hoppily and Real Drinks. Our aim with our shops is to continue championing the wide range of quality drinks that are being produced in Wales, for many years to come.
Our Betws y Coed shop: https://www.facebook.com/SYBBetws
Our Porthmadog shop: https://www.facebook.com/SiopYBragdy
