Ontario to allow corner stores to sell alcohol ending century-old LCBO monopoly

[Margaret's boy]

Finally the province of Ontario is joining the 21st century by ending the prohibition on alcohol sales in grocery and convenience stores, doing away with a century old monopoly on alcohol sales by the LCBO. Over 4K Ontario convenience stores approved to sell alcohol [[retail-insider.com)

[CassTechGrad]

Now they need to do the same thing with tobacco products and join the 21st century by ending the prohibition and restrictions on cigarettes and vaping sales in grocery and convenience stores. The war on cannabis and tobacco is a failure and should be replaced by decriminalization strategies.

[Richard]

I can kinda see their point,a majority of the sales in hood C-stores is beer,lottery and blunts for smoking weed,while the food stocks gather dust on the shelf.

I guess the theory is if you keep people drunk and stoned while dreaming of winning the lottery they stay happy and complacent.

[JBMcB]

We went to the LCBO in Niagara Falls a few years ago. Mountains of cheap beer, a few local beers, a small wine selection, and a pathetic liquor selection. I've seen gas stations with a better liquor section. I was hoping to pick up an interesting Canadian Whiskey that wasn't Crown Royal or Canadian Club, but that's all they had.

Good riddance, LCBO.

[Gistok]

I guess the theory is if you keep people drunk and stoned while dreaming of winning the lottery they stay happy and complacent.

What's the theory on people who have too much caffeine and nicotine?

[Richard]

What's the theory on people who have too much caffeine and nicotine?

anybody’s guess outside of creating a theroy in one’s head and using that to justify, verses a theory that is based on actual evidence.

So if your theory is my responses are fueled by to much caffeine and nicotine,I would have to ask you what is your excuse ?

It could be a result of just not having a clue then coming up with a theory to justify one’s own weakness in order to divert it to somebody else.

Sometimes people need to recognize and except their own weaknesses,and seek to improve them,instead of spending their lives trying to blame them on everybody else.

I realize it is tough for you to come to terms with AI has made you obsolete to the point where desperate measures are needed to be taken in order to maintain that illusion of society has taught you that the underclasses are inferior to the highly educated ,cough cough .

I am sure there was a time when the horse and buggy crowd struggled with the reality of the automobile,so what you are experiencing can be resolved by simply getting a grip on reality.

This thread is in reference to a monopoly,while our super markets and C-stores sell beer and wine,they are required to buy it from a distributor,who holds a monopoly.

When we were in the night club business,there was regular inspections,if you had any alcohol on premises that did not have that tax stamp or receipts for all purchases,that you had to buy from the distributor,you were immediately shut down and would lose your liquor license.

The governments use the distributors as a monopoly in order to make sure they get their tax money.

You could buy a bottle of vodka at the liquor store for $6 where it was $14 through the distributors.

Thats why they never liked the moonshiners,they were not getting their cut.

[Wesley Mouch]

Currently traveling in Europe. Beer and alcohol available everywhere. Sit with your kids and have a drink. Bring your dog. Bring your beer in a glass onto the beach. They will even serve you at your beach chairs. Everything is fine. The idea that these kind of limitations are useful in controlling behavior is wrong. Ultimately, treating people w/ respect works. The world doesn't end when you can get a beer in public.

[JBMcB]

Currently traveling in Europe. Beer and alcohol available everywhere.

My wife took my son to visit her family in Germany in the spring. They had wine vending machines. My son had his first beer at the Haufbrauhaus as the drinking age is 16. Nobody was carded or asked their age.

They have people with drinking problems in Germany, too. Access to alcohol doesn't really have a bearing on how many people drink too much. The main difference is they don't have a lot of drunk drivers because if you are caught drunk driving once, you'll go to jail for years and permanently loose your license.

[Richard]

Could you go into the hood in Canada and see people hanging out at the corner store that always seemed to lead to shootings and fights,or be able to walk in a convenience store without being asked 5 times for a dollar to buy a beer?

Two different worlds,one does not see what is a daily experience for the other so it’s hard to comprehend.

You do not have to go to Europe,there are several beaches in Florida where you can consume alcohol on the beach,no glass because people leave it in a place where others walk barefoot,some are no plastic straws because it screws with the sea turtles.

But you can also go to dog parks and drink beer or most restaurants allow fluffy inside ,most tourist destinations are more liberal with policies.

[Canadian Visitor]

We went to the LCBO in Niagara Falls a few years ago. Mountains of cheap beer, a few local beers, a small wine selection, and a pathetic liquor selection. I've seen gas stations with a better liquor section. I was hoping to pick up an interesting Canadian Whiskey that wasn't Crown Royal or Canadian Club, but that's all they had.

Good riddance, LCBO.

The LCBO isn't going anywhere, it maintains its liquor monopoly and its going to be the wholesaler to all those C-stores and supermarkets.

The Niagara store you went to was a small, local one, an after thought.

If you want to see the LCBO at its best, you need to visit Toronto. The flagship location is in a restored train station, its 30,000ft2 of Beer Wine and the hard stuff.

Something like 60 products sample at any given time. Classrooms for wine tasting/appreciation and cooking classes.

Have a look:

https://torontoguardian.com/2013/04/...-liquor-store/

[Canadian Visitor]

Finally the province of Ontario is joining the 21st century by ending the prohibition on alcohol sales in grocery and convenience stores, doing away with a century old monopoly on alcohol sales by the LCBO. Over 4K Ontario convenience stores approved to sell alcohol [[retail-insider.com)

While I support the broadening of beer and wine sales, you're rather overselling the change.

Wine and Beer have been available in lots of non-LCBO locations for a long time.

The Beer Store obviously had upwards of 600 locations; Beer, Wine and Cider have been on sale in 450 supermarkets for several years; and there are 2 winery owned chains, 'Wine Rack' and 'Wine Shop' which have over 200 stores between them, on top of being able to buy the winery/brewery, and in the last couple of years, any bar or restaurant has been allowed to sell any beer/wine they stock to the public on a retail basis.

[Canadian Visitor]

Replying to Mr. Mouch:

I broadly agree with the above, but would like to note, that most Canadian Cinemas are licensed, most non-fast food restos are licensed, you can drink in parks in Toronto, and beer/wine have had over 1,500 points of sale in the province, for retail, excluding restos for the last several years. We're not exactly in the prohibition era here.

But that said, I am supportive of broadening points of sale, and the current round of changes.

In fact, I think a few more are in order. As it stands, the LCBO's wholesale price to C-Stores and Restos is 90% of its retail price. Which is unrealistically high. In general, I would expect to see wholesale at in/around 50% of retail depending on the product, but certainly well below 90%,

There are some other tweaks needed as well. The LCBO's markup formula and procurement strategies need adjustments.

On the former, the typical markup is 129% of landed cost. That is incredibly steep.

On the latter, its a bit complex to explain in detail here, but I'll try to give the gist, the LCBO literally works out what it wants to sell a product for at retail first, then uses a formula to work backwards to what it wants to pay the manufacturer/distributor.

The insanity of this is that the world's largest purchaser of beverage alcohol, the LCBO, with its enormous buying power, actually overpays for its product in many cases. Failing to leverage its position to benefit of consumers or its citizen/taxpayer owners.

[JBMcB]

The Niagara store you went to was a small, local one, an after thought.

Well, when we asked the locals, they said it was the only place to find bottles of whiskey anywhere near downtown.

For comparison, a few months before I stayed at a cabin with a few friends in Petosky. We went to a tiny market with an unbelievable whiskey selection. Hundreds of bottles, along with local microbrews and Michigan wines. Petosky's population is a tiny fraction of Niagara Falls'.

The LCBO in Niagara Falls is within walking distance from the main drag. In a tourist heavy area, you'd think they'd have a good representation of beers and liquors from Canada. They didn't. If I wanted a 48-pack of Molson or LeBatt's I was all set. I did end up getting some LeBatt's, though. I like blue.

I'm sure the LCBO in Toronto is great, because nearly everything in Toronto is great. The problem is when you leave Toronto. Other cities should have great things, too.

[Canadian Visitor]

Well, when we asked the locals, they said it was the only place to find bottles of whiskey anywhere near downtown.

That would be accurate.

****

The LCBO in Niagara Falls is within walking distance from the main drag. In a tourist heavy area, you'd think they'd have a good representation of beers and liquors from Canada. They didn't...

I'm not going to justify the dumpster fire that is the Ferry Street location of LCBO in Niagara; though I will say there is a far superior location in St. Catharines [[the big city for the area, and in the same region).

The Ferry Street store is set to be relocated in the next little while. [[probably two decades overdue).

I'm sure the LCBO in Toronto is great, because nearly everything in Toronto is great.

On behalf of my fellow citizens, I thank you for the compliment. I will say, like people anywhere we have plenty to complain about.....[[gridlock, OMG, the commutes are nuts) ...but I digress.

The problem is when you leave Toronto. Other cities should have great things, too.

I certainly agree, the LCBO does have high quality stores outside Toronto, but certainly, they are in relatively limited supply in terms of the top tier of stores.

They tend to be in the biggest cities as well, such as Ottawa, London, Kitchener etc.

Niagara Falls and Windsor both tend to get short shrift. But as well, the best locations in those communities aren't downtown, they are the suburban stores.

I imagine they the thinking was that tourists had their booze at restaurants and that the market for selling to tourists was secondary.

[401don]

There is some pretty solid evidence that alcohol is a dangerous poison and should be labelled as such. The started doing just that in indigenous communities with high alcoholism rates in northern Canada a couple of years ago and consumption dropped considerably.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/alcoh...ncer-1.6304816
I really don't care where you buy it. I just wish they would get serious about drinking and driving laws.