LiquorLand

LiquorLand

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Headquarters	New Zealand
Number of locations	145 stores[1]
Area served	New Zealand
Products	Bottle shops
Parent	Foodstuffs
Website	www.liquorland.co.nz

LiquorLand (sometimes referred to as Liquorland) is a franchise of independently owned bottle shops around New Zealand, operated by Foodstuffs.^[2] LiquorLand is part of the Fly Buys and Airpoints loyalty schemes.^[1]

LiquorLand was established in 1981 as a franchise of independently owned liquor stores.^[1] By 2002, under the ownership of DB Breweries, it had 72 stores.^[3] By 2005, it had 80 stores.^[4]

Foodstuffs purchased the franchise in 2009 for an undisclosed sum.^[5] Woolworths Group had also attempted to purchase the chain.^[6]

Birds Liquorsave was established in Hamilton in 1991. It had seven stores in Hamilton, Rotorua, Thames and Tauranga by 2005.^[7]

The Mill took over Birds Liquorsave in 2005, rebranding the stores as The Mill Liquorsave.^[7][8] The stores were converted into LiquorLand stores, after Foodstuffs purchased The Mill in 2015.^[9]

The Mill was established in New Plymouth in 1993.^[10] It had 24 stores in 2004,^[9] and had 31 stores by 2005.^[7] It took over Birds Liquorsave in October 2005, rebranding the stores as The Mill Liquorsave.^[7] It also introduced no-frills stores in March 2006.^[8]

Independent Brewers, a Papakura-based alcohol company owned by Asahi Breweries,^[11] purchased The Mill franchise in May 2013.^[10] The franchise reached 35 stores; most were located in the North Island but none were located in Auckland.^[12]

Independent Brewers sold The Mill to Foodstuffs for an undisclosed sum in October 2015,^[13] The stores were converted into LiquorLand stores.^[9] None of the stores were located in Auckland.

Foodstuffs established the Duffy & Finn's alcohol chain in 2006. The first outlet, a small liquor store, opened in Porirua in August. The second outlet, a $1 million 800m² large-format store, opened in Pukekohe in November.^[14][15]

The chain was based on Australian liquor chain Dan Murphy's. At the time, Woolworths Group had been understood to be planning to expand the chain to New Zealand.^[16]

The Duffy and Finn's store was phased out following Foodstuffs' purchase of LiquorLand in 2009.^[5] The two stores were continuing to operate in 2011.^[17][18] The brand was removed from the Foodstuffs website in the last three months of that year.^[18][19]

The first Henry's store was opened in Queenstown in October 2006.^[16]

Foodstuffs purchased nine Imperial Discount Liquor stores in Kaikōura, Rangiora and Christchurch, rebranding them as Henry's from June 2007.^[16] The Imperial Discount Liquor franchise had been operating since 2004.^[20]

From late 2022, Foodstuffs began to phase out the Henry's Beer, Wine & Spirit brand. All 19 stores were converted to LiquorLand with the last store rebranding at the end of February 2023.

During the initial COVID-19 lockdown in March and April 2020, Foodstuffs was required to close its liquor stores and shift to online sales.^[21] When the stores were allowed to reopen, they began surveying customers on how the stores and website could be improved.^[22]

In 2021, Foodstuffs reached an agreement with The Trusts, to allow some of its WestLiquor stores in West Auckland to be re-branded as LiquorLand.^[23] Under the agreement, Foodstuffs can make recommendations on pricing.^[24]