Interview with Martin Bailey [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Martin Bailey, born in 1945, started his working life as an accountant working for Raptis & Sons, the fish merchants. In 1977, he became a partner in the one of the earliest discount bottle shops at Pasadena. Until then, the wine, beer and spirit makers had carried the discount. Martin compares the growth of discount bottle shops with the decline of the corner grocery stores and the development of supermarkets. He and Bob Clampett purchased their second discount store at Hove. In his analysis of wine retailing in the large discount stores, Martin Bailey stresses the importance of knowledgeable staff, and a large and varied range of alcoholic drinks from all over the world. Like the other interviewees in this series, he notes the decline in demand for fortified wines. He referred also to the slowing demand for cask wines and the influence of driving under the influence legislation. From the original two bottle shops, Martin purchased the Vintage Cellars shops and forty other shops in Melbourne. During the high interest period of the late 1980s, Martin Bailey and his partner, Joe Fassina, scaled back their business to seven shops in Adelaide and marketed themselves as fine wine merchants. In his summary of the significant changes in wine retailing over the last twenty five years, Martin Bailey highlighted the dominance of the Coles and Woolworths chain liquor stores with their restricted range of products; the greater sophistication of wine buyers; and the pricing of wines.

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