+ News and Press
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Jacques Scott's Countryside Store
- A New Retailing Concept Unfolds
"The Cayman Islands Journal", November 2007
by Lindsey Turnbull.

Appealing to those who enjoy the entire entertaining experience, the new Jacques Scott wine and spirits store in the up and coming Countryside shopping complex in Savannah promises to deliver a good deal more than just liquor. And with a strong focus on utilising green practices wherever possible, the store looks to be leading the way for a new concept in retail design in the Cayman Islands.

Not without its difficulties in getting off the ground, Jacques Scott’s brand new store in Countryside finally opened its doors last month, now offering people in Savannah and beyond the opportunity to shop for a decent bottle of wine with their evening meal and a much more besides.

Paul McLaughlin, Jacques Scott’s Retail Manager says it has been a labour of love creating this exciting new store. He states, “We have designed a shop that is more about lifestyle than liquor. Of course, we offer an excellent range of wines, spirits and beers as customers would expect from Jacques Scott, however we have introduced a store within a store concept that embraces a wide variety of merchandise that takes the store to the next level.”

To this end, Paul has set up a large dining table resplendent with fine crockery and cutlery, to invoke a feel of elegant and stylish home entertaining, and, more importantly, to instil the confidence in customers that they can recreate such an ambiance at home.

Paul says, “We have stocked the store with a great range of flatware and tableware as well as kitchen accessories such as blenders and Kitchen Aid mixers, table linens and even cake moulds. The whole concept has been customer- driven, in response to the many requests we have received over the years for affordable but stylish kitchen­ware.”

He continues, “People in Cayman love to entertain and we felt it was important to embrace this wider concept when designing this brand new store.”

Mrs. Karen Hunter	Chris Weaver	Carrie Stein	Alison Green using the bottle crusher at Jacques Scott’s

With a reputation to uphold as one of Cayman’s leading liquor establishments, around one third of Jacques Scott’s new store houses the top selection of wines that are offered island-wide.

Ross Philips, Marketing Manager with Jacques Scott says, “Customers at our Savannah store can enjoy wines from our top 550 selection, including those from Bertani, Villa Antinori, Babich as well as some fine Bordeaux and Burgundy wines.”

In addition to the wide range of wines, the entire range of beers available on-island are also sold at the store, as are the top spirits, including Appleton Rum, Belvedere Vodka, Hennessy Cognac, Tanquerey Gin, Patron Tequila and Johnnie Walker Whisky to name but a few.

Island Supply is a distribution company that falls under the umbrella of the Jacques Scott group of companies and it has developed a Green Solutions programme to help businesses across Cayman develop an ecologically friendly approach.

Chris Weaver, Island Supply’s General Manager says the new Countryside store has allowed Jacques Scott the unique possibility of introducing green concepts from the very beginning.

He says, “We have been able to take a multi-layered approach. This includes introducing Greenware drinking cups that are available for purchase in sleeves. This is one of Cayman’s first steps towards the concept of recycling, which at the moment does not exist in any meaningful way. Greenware is made from corn materials that are fully compostable, therefore leaving no carbon footprint in their disposal.”

Chris continues, “We have also ensured that cleaning products used at the store are Green Seal (and therefore independently) certified, i.e. they contain no chemicals harmful to the environment. Heavy duty cleaners such as degreasers commonly used in the hospitality industry pour highly toxic acids and other chemicals into the environment and we are on a mission to reduce the flow.

“We are also introducing an extremely exciting and innovative concept for the very first time in Cayman – the ability for customers to return their empty glass bottles back to the store. We have brought in a bottle crusher that will crush the glass into small enough pieces that can be recycled into a wide range of useful products. This again reduces the carbon footprint caused by waste disposal. And anything that reduces the speed in which the George Town landfill expands must be a good thing for the Cayman Islands.”

Energy efficient light bulbs have also been installed at the store which not only use less electricity than normal bulbs, but they also give off less heat therefore reducing the reliance on air conditioning.

Chris concludes, “Jacques Scott has always been conscious of ensuring it is a good corporate citizen, so we felt it was our duty to incorporate such concepts into the design of the store. We felt a responsibility to install more ecologically sound ideas but it also made good business sense as cus­tomers have now begin to demand such goods and services. And if our competitors decide to embrace these concepts this can only be a good thing for the island as a whole.”

Chris Weaver	Bottle Crusher