City Keeping an Eye on Grocery Store Wine Sales
Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George is watching to see how the new law which allows BC’s VQA wines to be sold in grocery stores is rolling out.
The Province recently heralded the addition of wine sales in a couple of grocery stores in the lower mainland. The law that prevents the relocation of a licensed liquor retail store or government liquor store to within one km of each other, but that rule doesn’t apply to existing wine stores nor will it apply to the special wine store licensees.
Prince George City Councillor Garth Frizzell is looking for more information from staff “It was a discussion around our home table when we saw SaveOn Foods has opened up a wine aisle in Abbottsford and South Surrey and Tsawwassen already, so it’s coming to BC communities and we have to be prepared.”
City Planning Department Manager Ian Wells says his department is gathering information “We are looking at what other municipalities are doing as a comprehensive review” and will bring something back to Council later this year.
Brian Skakun says he has concerns about jobs “They talk about selling wine in grocery stores, but really, ,in my opinion, it’s the thin edge of the wedge because once you get wine in there, they’re going to be selling different kinds of spirits and I’m concerned about jobs in the private and public liquor stores, because in the end, the grocery stores are not going to hire people to sell wine and different kinds of spirits, they’re going to have the same amount of people.”
Comments
DO NOT,I REPEAT, DO NOT intervene.
Allow the market to bare it’s own results, please please please stop trying to protect certain interests.
Another “true believer” who thinks “the market” should rule because they are in or believe they are in a position where “the market” has no influence or only a positive one so far. Hopefully, “the market” will one day put you and your ilk on the street. Then we will see how long your loyalty and belief in “market forces ruling all” lasts.
@Skakun
What part of that’s the plan don’t you get? Because THAT’S THE PLAN. Government liquor stores are one of the last areas of retail sales that pay living wages and benefits. Expanding sales of booze to grocery stores is this government’s method to finish transitioning retail workers to an underclass of poorly paid, low or no benefit mcjobbed serfs. It also partly fulfills this SOCRED government’s anti-union and privatization mandate by deunionizing and privatizing yet another government service.
A side benefit is that it also benefits the real premier of this province, Jimmy Pattison, in making mo’ money.
So this SOCRED trash government will facilitate easier access for drunks and minors to get their fix and then spend millions on “public service” ads propagandizing us on the dangers of aloohol and drunk driving. It’s sickening. Also, expect armed robbery of corner stores to sky rocket once they are allowed to sell booze as well. Oh well, at least it will keep cops employed.
“The law that prevents the relocation of a licensed liquor retail store or government liquor store to (be)sic within one km of each other…”
Interesting the College Heights Pub Cold Beer and Wine Store is now closed, which was within one kilometre of Save On Foods. Coincidence? Perhaps we should be looking for future patterns of cold beer and wine store closures to make way for the Big Boys, like Jimmy adding wine and spirits to their grocery store inventories.
Soon, all of Jimmy’s stores will be essental service locations for everyone, whether it be for prescription drugs, liqour, groceries, … and more?
Only for those willing to pay Jimmy’s inflated prices for groceries, prescriptions, and possibly wine. I’ll stick with BCLC for my booze and Costco for my groceries.
Oops, BCLDB not BCLC.
CHP Cold Beer store didn’t close, it moved over by the Bulk Barn. Should probably do some homework before you speak…
Not entirely true. Where a non government liquor must be at least a 1000 meters from any other liquor sales establishment that rule does not apply to government. And if Jimmy sells it cheaper than Jordy… well there in lies the beauty of markup. I highly doubt any retailer closes a location for the sole purpose of allowing a grocery store to pick up the revenue.
This government will always assist Jimmy. First of all they opened private liquor stores which do not pay a decent salary for the ones who work there. They will try to close more government liquor stores if they can because after all people who work there are making a living wage.
Jimmy’s not overly concerned with those who do not shop at his stores. He makes his money from those that DO shop there. Not everyone runs around town burning up gas looking for the cheapest prices.
We need to open **Whine Stores** in different area’s so that the whiners can congregate and complain about how hard done by they are. There is a significant difference between those who really feel the pinch in this town, and those who make great salaries and benefits but continue to bitch, because that’s their lot in life.
At the end of the day we are talking about wine and booze, not really a huge part of anyone’s life is it??? or is it???
You are one to talk about whining. lol
All one has to do is mention the closed garbage transfer station and Palopu has a full whine and cheese party ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hey Palapu – we already have a whine store: Have you ever spent more than five minutes in a Tim Hortons, just listening?
Good paying, family supporting jobs are what need protection. 30 years ago everyone who worked at Overwaitea had one of those. Now you have to look a lot harder to find someone in retail who can actually pay the rent and buy food all in the same month.
One warehouse store can pay while the other is minimum wage. I agree with protecting jobs but only if those jobs provide for the basic necessities of life. So my question is, how do wages compare between the BC Liquor Store, private liquor stores and the grocery stores?
Another question. What is fair compensation for standing at a till or stocking shelves? Is it the wage paid by the private stores or generous wage with a sweet benefits package that government employees receive?
When the full time cashier buy outs started at Overwaitea the paper had an piece showing the wages of some cashiers that were the same as a ticketed tradesman. Really? Scanning a can of pork and beans is quite a bit different than working outside at -40 repairing a broken chain or laying in the mud fixing a loader.
As for the big box retailers do you think that Wally’s world would stay open if every union member in town refused to shop there? No they want save a few bucks and could care less that the teller is earning minium wage.
An interesting social experiment would be to open two Timmies side by side that were exactly the same except one is a $15/hr store and charged .20 more per cup. For someone that has a couple a day it would be $12 a month more. I wonder what the demographics in terms of income, union affiliation,small businessman,etc would be for the people that frequent each store.
How is it different? Why don’t you try standing for a 10 hours a day, repetitively scanning hundreds of items and then say that it isn’t hard work? Have you ever felt what your legs feel like after standing in one spot for hours at a time? I have and its not fun. And no, I’m not a cashier. I’m just someone who can recognize that just because something looks easy doesn’t mean that it is necessarily so.
Wow, phje’s comment has a strong Ayn Rand following. Yup let the market sort itself out, that way multi-billion dollar companies and take over the little guys and dominate the market. Once they completely dominate it, and there is no competition, they can raise their prices which we would simply have to accept because there is no cometitive pricing any more.
And because these Multi-Billion dollar companies are so rich, they can maintain their market dominance by temporarily dropping their prices to undercut any new competition that would try to sell for less. Once the new competition is forced (starved out), these Multi-Billion dollar companies can raise their prices again.
Rinse and repeat… aren’t free unregulated markets the cat’s meow?
just curious, do you not have to be 19 or older to sell alcohol? the majority of people working at say superstore or save-on are highschool kids.
They sell smokes, have to be 19 to buy those
I don’t think that most cashiers are underage. Most times when I’m there it’s somebody my age or older. Granted I am there during the day time. In any case, I think they have separate checkouts according to this new law? So I assume they’d have an adult running the liquor register.
alcohol + city council= YOU GOT IT…
if past events are any indication…
I would like to know where are local MLAs stand on this issue. There always yapping about young drivers having so many vehicle accidents and thinking of ways to screw them out of money with more insurance regulation and fees. Maybe they should think of making it harder for easy access to alcohol.
No worries about Save-on selling wine I know for a fact that a bottle of Chablis or Merlot is at the very bottom of young peoples wish list when looking for booze. Bud(headache in a can) is another story.
You don’t go to a muffler shop to have your watch repaired so why would you go to a grocery store to buy alcohol where they no nothing about the product. Government is making huge profits on these products so I will support the place that is paying the better wages.
You could say the same about a bakery; about a butcher; about a green grocer; about a fishmonger; about a tobacconist; about a prescription drugs; about clothing; about kitchen utensils; about sushi; and on and on.
The question is not why should alcoholic beverages be sold in grocery stores; the question is why should they not be sold in grocery stores.
It is just the last vestige of our WASP background.
You want to buy wine and you want someone to tell you what you should be looking at for your special dinner on the weekend, then forget the Government store or the private store. Go to a special wine store….
Oh, wait, we do not have one of those in PG. To find a sommelier in PG would be very difficult in ANY store.
Oldman1 asks; “I wonder where our MLAs stand on this issue?” (Increasing accessibility of alcohol to minors by selling it in grocery stores).
This is the very same government that now allows our kids into pubs, so where do you think our MLAs would stand on liquor being available for sale in our grocery stores? Nothing like a “families first” government letting families drink and buy alcohol togeather, apparently these are experiences every parent would want to share with their kids.
www. timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-liquor-reforms-allow-kids-in-pubs-and-happy-hour-1.763091
I doubt that parents are taking their kids to a peeler bar during the day.There are pubs in town where you can get a good lunch at a reasonable price. From my observations a majority of people are having soft drinks or water with lunch so little different from a restaurant.
A better example would be France or Italy where a glass of wine with a meal is almost a given. Some kids even get a watered down glass of wine and despite this saw no evidence that these people are raging alcoholics, but just normal families.
WASP mindset evident.
nuffstuff 1. I agree with your comment on Tim’s when it comes to group complainers.
Why was my comment about Ayn Rand soaking up government assistance removed?
A favourite quote of mine from Ayn Rand:
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark.
In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach.
The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”
Who is the Ayn Rand you were posting about and why would she be soaking up government assistance?
Ayn Rand was a vile individual who promoted the stupid idea that unrestricted greed was actually a virtue. She promoted the nonsensical myth that “rugged individuals” succeeded by their own efforts, with the help of no one. She promoted a certifiably insane idea that unregulated Capitalism was (LOL) actually deeply moral. History has proven again and again what a perverse lie that one is.
The “sparks of her life” went out collecting medicaid checks from the government. So much for “rugged individualism” and making your way in the world with the help of no one but your own abilities, ambition and greed. What swill.
Might as well get into 80’s like the States, sell beer too!
Ihl—One more thing we don’t is students working after hrs stocking shelves with wine for Jimmy at min wage.
— need–
The only thing the government is worried about is getting their taxes.
As for union Brian…I don’t think the government should be selling anything….if the gov liquor stores closed think of the tens of millions that would be saved.. No more building upkeep, no more salaries with rediculous retirement packages..etc
Close ICBC as well… The gov keeps taking money from it and then ups our rates to cover this while blaming ICBC costs for the rise…
P Val—So is liquor less expensive to buy in the private store and if not- why? Are wages in the private store lower than the government store and if they are- why?
What makes you think the bloated wage and benefit package that the government store workers get should be the compensation benchmark for selling a six pack or a bottle of vodka?
If one wants to talk about bloated wage packages maybe we should start with our MLAs. I don’t know where some people are coming from. Are we wanting to create a society where everyone is working for min. wage and can not afford to feed their families. Someone on this site made some good comments on the worth of a person a few yrs.ago. We are already seeing long lineups at food banks that we never had yrs ago. Part time jobs etc-etc. Maybe someone should ask Christy where are all the jobs that were promised in the last election.
Comments for this article are closed.