Wetherspoon grievance over cheap supermarket alcohol a case of pot, kettle, black

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has blamed cheap supermarket prices for a slowdown in sales.

The group, which has plans to open 30 pubs in Ireland over the next five years, said sales had slowed significantly in its second quarter, blaming cheap supermarket alcohol for flat bar receipts over Christmas and New Year. Basically, the pot is calling the kettle black.

Hilariously, the pub chain's outspoken boss Tim Martin warned of a threat to pubs from cheap supermarket alcohol and called for pubs to campaign against it. It would seem it is okay for Wetherspoon pubs to sell alcohol at very low prices, but not supermarkets.

Has Wetherspoon forgotten that it riled publicans and Heineken in Ireland recently by charging less than €3 for a pint of the beer? Local publicans usually charge €5 a pint, so Heineken threw a strop and refused to supply it here. In retaliation, Wetherspoon pulled Heineken's products from its entire network of almost 1,000 establishments in Ireland and Britain.

Wetherspoon later reinstated Heineken in the UK, but still won’t sell it or Murphy’s (part of the Heineken stable) in the Republic.

On a side note, despite falling sales, JD Wetherspoon doesn’t seem to be short of money. The group plans to spend £400 million on 200 new pubs over the next five years.

Last month the chain bought the former Camden Hall hostel on Camden Street in Dublin, which it plans to turn into a 100-room hotel and pub on the back of a €4 million investment.

Even Martin highlights the group’s financial resources, yesterday saying: “Bar sales in the industry as a whole, especially where pubs have not benefited from Wetherspoon’s level of investment, will have fared less well.”