Drop Shop

Designed like Aesop, run like 7-Eleven. That’s the ethos behind Drop Shop, where just 150 bottles line the fridges across three budget-focused categories: “weekday” ($15 to $25), “party” ($25 to $40) and “fancy” ($40 plus). The idea is to take the decision-making out of the customer experience and focus on how people actually buy alcohol: by occasion, and price.

Found on a busy Lygon Street thoroughfare, the bottle shop counts local hospitality hotspots such as Etta, Daphne, Charrd and Times New Roman as neighbours; capitalising on the foot traffic of those queuing more than an hour for a burger, or searching for a bottle to keep the party going after a long lunch.

Want a natural orange wine for $20? A $50 merlot with a label nice enough to gift a friend? You don’t have to look far – curation is key here. While bottle shop heavyweights like BWS stock more than 100 varieties of the same grape, Drop Shop has about 170 products in total, spanning mostly Victorian wines, a few interstate drops, and a smattering of overseas imports. There’s also a small range of beer, from Melbourne Bitter to craft brews, plus low and no-alcohol options, canned cocktails and RTDs.

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