L-R Corey Terry, Tony Williams (REST), Julie Ryan
Retail Drinks Australia has named Corey Terry of Vantage Group in Launceston, Tasmania, as the 2018 South Eastern Australia Young Liquor Retailer of the Year.
Terry will now be entered into the national Young Liquor Retailer competition and will go up against the winners from each state, with the national winner to be announced in mid-2019.
Among other things, the national winner will receive an ‘observer’ seat on the board of Retail Drinks Australia, alongside representatives from Coles Liquor, Endeavour Drinks Group, Australian Liquor Marketers (ALM), and others which were named at the launch in Melbourne last week.
Terry is following in the footsteps of Sharni Fenton, also from Vantage Group, who was the national winner in 2017.
Terry told TheShout that he was extremely excited by the win as it will provide great networking and career opportunities for him.
“I was happy in just being nominated and being one of the final two, so even just that was a feather in the cap. But to go on to win it and to find out how that is going to help me progress is a bit of excitement but also makes me a bit nervous at the same time.”
Over the past 12 months the store that Terry manages, 9/11 in Launceston City, won the Tasmanian Hospitality Association’s (THA) Best Liquor Retail Outlet award, and then also went on to win the national title at the Australia Hospitality Association (AHA) Awards.
“I think it’s a really good reward for effort for not just myself but also for the Vantage Group. And all of the awards and accolades that we’ve been getting in the last two to three years, including Sharni (Fenton) winning the national Young Liquor Retailer title last year, has been really good.”
The Young Liquor Retailer awards are sponsored by REST and was presented by Tony Williams. Hannah Lambert from BWS in Findon, South Australia was the runner up.