London-based cash & carry HT & Co Drinks has joined forces with Gift Creation & Design to open up the £1bn gifting market to independent retailers.
Today’s Group member HT Drinks has acquired 50% of Blackpool-based GC&D, which creates food and alcohol gift packs for garden centres, department stores and multiples. The partnership will result in the expansion of the range of alcohol gift packs on offer at the cash & carry.
“We hope that the partnership will help us to grow our suppliers’ brands by opening up new channels,” said Sanjay Thakrar, director of HT Drinks. “We’re offering no minimum order requirements for our retail customers. In five years’ time, we hope to be the largest gifting company in the UK.”
The company will be jointly owned by Sanjay Thakrar, his cousin Sagar Thakrar, GC&D chairman Mike Brennand, and his brother David.
The gifting concept will be supported by PoS developed exclusively for independent retailers, starting with a trial in Today’s retailers. There are also plans to introduce free-standing display units with changeable headers to help retailers respond to different holidays.
