Focus on…. Mitchell’s Wines

Dennis Mitchell opened his butchers shop at Meadowhead in 1935 to service the new build residential area of Meadowhead and Norton. In 1963 the shop was enlarged to create an off-licence section or beer off as they were then known. John Mitchell joined the family firm in 1968 and started to drive the drink side of the business forward, it was very much returnable bottles in those days. The biggest seller being Tennents Gold Label barley wine sold in nips. Guinness was bottles everywhere, we bought ours from Skinner Rook and Chambers as they used Dublin Guinness, our customers preferred this rather than Park Royal London. Other popular ales included Tetley’s family ale, Whitbread Forest Brown, John Smiths Magnet & Mansfield Ale. Our best seller was Shipstone Gold Star sold in flagons because it was the cheapest. Well wind the clock on 50 years and Mitchells are still there, having picked up many awards over the years including Courage Beer Retailer of the year back in 1994, Winner of Off Licence News Wine Merchant of the Year twice, Spirits & Beer Retailer as well as coming runner up to Selfridges on Oxford Street as Drinks retailer of the year 2015. What makes this shop so special? Well within its 3000 sq foot of floor space lay a labyrinth of drink departments as well as the North of England’s best fine Havana cigar selection. The biggest hit of the last 2 years is the rise in popularity of Whisky and Gin. We are also now seeing a major rise in Craft & Artisan Beers. We currently stock over 500 real ale and ciders including 26 from Thornbridge Brewery alone from which we started out with just 2 core ranges Jaipur and Kipling. We have a dedicated fridge to cool selected ales down to between 10c and 14c for that perfect serve. Wherever possible, we try to support local breweries and stock over 100 varieties of Yorkshire/Derbyshire ales. Along with cider from Holmfirth and Tadcasters very own Samuel Smiths. Looking further afield we have great beers from surrounding counties and have a great selection of quality ales from as far as Scotland and Cornwall. We also specialise in coeliac approved beers from Wold Top Brewery along with other Gluten free, Organic & fair trade products. We always have an ever changing £1 guest ale value offer. So next time you’re passing Meadowhead there’s no excuse to not call in Mitchells.