Nicolas

NICOLAS is a french group of wine&spirits retail with 600 stores mainly based in Europe (turnover around 350 millions € / 450 millions US$) a subgroup of Castel Group which is one of the world leaders in wines, beers and soft drinks (No. 1 in Europe for wine and No 3 for wine in the world with an established presence in over 130 countries) This first NICOLAS stores, specializing in wines and spirits, opened their doors in the center of Paris in 1822, one year following Napoleon's death. Providing superior quality and follow-up at a reasonable price has been our recipe for success. As the number of our stores has grown, NICOLAS' fame has spread owing to intense advertising through both the movies (the first animated advertising cartoons in 1921) and billboards. Nectar, the character symbolizing NICOLAS, was born in 1921 by the pen of the artist Dransy. The delivery guy toured the world with 32 bottles... The great poster designers of the inter-war period signed on as well : Iribe, Loupot, Cassandre, and Brunhoff, who temporarily left behind his little brainchild, Babar the elephant, for the famous delivery guy. Later on, the creation of end -of-the-year luxury catalogues (see below) illustrated by famous painters and published from 1932 to 1973, and again beginning in 1992, helped promote the company's image. Among the illustrators : Van Dongen, Derain, Lorjou, Buffet, Chapelain, Midy, and Boisrond... All talent meant that NICOLAS could take our place in the history of advertising... NICOLAS has always been on the cutting edge, even with wine, a product that is as old as the hills. We were the first to sell wine by the bottle (rather than by volum), to arrange home delivery by cart and then delivery tricycle, to offer a complete range of French wine and local wines, to launch Beaujolais Nouveau in Paris, and to revive interest in Vins de Pays with our selection of cheerful and brighly colored Petites Recoltes ("Little Harvest").