Eat & Drink
Hudak promises the sale of wine & beer at corner stores
Hmmm. I don't like Tim Hudak a whole lot, but I do like booze and things that are convenient — you know, like being able to buy booze at the corner store. So I must confess that I'm on board with the provincial Conservative leader's announcement this morning that he'd open up the sale of beer and wine to grocery and corner stores, something which really should have been legislated long ago.
While one can point to the possibility that such a move would hinder the mighty LCBO's earning power, it's hard to ignore the fact that the current system is marked by misplaced paternalism as much as it is by dollar signs. Hudak indicated that he would not sell of the LCBO in its entirety, but that he was keen to open up the market to the private sector in favour of a more consumer friendly system.
Will the Liberal-leader-to-be have to get on board with this idea come election time? The power of convenient booze could be worth a few votes, even if the status quo has proven good for government business. What say you? Good idea? Good enough idea to sway a potential vote in favour of the Conservatives when the time comes?
Photo by Patrick Cummins in the blogTO Flickr pool
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He has no intention of following through if he wins. The Harris government (which had plenty of will power and which Hudak was a part of) tried this fight in the 90s and had to back down. That should give you an idea of the resources that will be mobilized against anyone who fights the beverage monopolies in Ontario.
On a related topic, let people drink on the street. Also a puritanical throwback that requires some rethinking.
That's not necessarily true. You'd see smarter cornershops tailoring their merchandise to the neighbourhood around them, like they already do. Could be a BIG opening for microbreweries and wines that get no love from the LCBO (and there are lot of those).
Would I like to see it? Maybe. Am I willing to pay higher taxes to get it? Not so much.
When will Who-dat pull out the gay marriage, gun lobby, anti-abortion cards?
Note not every location will have wide selection because the clientelle won't demand it (imagine that, responding to the demands of the retail marketplace). This is also true of the LCBO. Not every LCBO location has great selection or a prime Vintages section. Some of the outposts in small town Ontario have very limited selection.
In the end you'll end up with basics in the corner stores and a lot of higher end premium specialty stores that want to focus on wine or whisky or whatever.
Also note that if LCBO were taken out of retail and acted just as a wholesaler, it would still have its envious buying clout and would still make money off the wholesale mark-up, without all the expenses of running and staffing retail stores. Running retail liquor stores is not the role for government. They are supposed to be regulators, not retailers.
I don't really care if product from the LCBO is available in corner stores or not. What I would like to see is full privatization so that store owners are free to sell whatever brands they want, not just what the LCBO dictates can be sold. Then we would see real choice like they have in Alberta.
We have more important things to worry about than the convenience of buying alcohol.
You drunks should wisen up before liver disease hits.
Hudak is a douchebag and just trying to distract you, wino.
1)Go to the planet Frenginar and buy a replicator so that you can get all of the beer you want
2)Buy a home brewing kit and make your own beer
3)Be an adult and realize that the world doesn't revolve around you having beer to drink all of the time
4)Get the frack out of Ontario and move to a place that will let you buy beer and wine in corner stores
5) Buck up, and 'quit yer bellyachin'-the world isn't as worse as you think that it is.
By all means, if Hudak's the best man, vote for him, but don't vote for him just because of a (politician's) promise.
Charge us more, LCBO asked French supplier
he LCBO is in some cases asking suppliers to charge it more for the products it distributes, according to records obtained by Global News.
Quoted a wholesale price of $27,481 for a shipment of French brandy in early 2011, LCBO purchasing officials asked in August to pay $31,351 instead, records show.
The order was for 180 12-bottle cases of calvados, an apple-based spirit, produced near Caen in Normandy.
The new price reflected a policy under which the provincial alcohol retailer applies a fixed markup from the wholesale price to the planned retail price, in this case $50.75. Since the wholesale quote plus the fixed markup fell below that price, the LCBO asked to be charged a higher price by the wholesaler.
Read it on Global News: Global Toronto | Charge us more, LCBO asked French supplier
You will see prices drop and selection improve. Moreover, profitability of the LCBO may actually improve. They still get to add on a "mark up" (i.e. tax) to the wholesale price. It's happened in other jurisdictions. Ontario is not a "magic" land.
In some models LCBO may still retain a role as wholesale purchaser and importer. In others it may simply authorize private wholesalers that seperately or together negotiate with manufacteres to buy/import goods (like in Alberta).
I don't know why people see this as some sacred cow. It's not health care, for God's sakes, it's just booze retailing. No reason why a government employee has to work the stock room and cash register for this. And certainly no reason to believe they're doing it more efficiently and effectively than private enterprise would.
Hate Hudak all you like. They guy is certainly creepy. But this is simply a good idea.
Someone above said it best, this is a wedge issue, with little hope of ever coming to frution.
It raises a few questions: would this compete with the LCBO and if so, would there need to be rules about how close to an existing LCBO outlet a store selling beer and wine could be? How much floor space could such a store devote to alcohol? What about checking ID? Store hours? How would we define a corner store as opposed to a hastily set up store selling almost nothing but alcohol?
None of this has been mentioned by Hudak, probably because he knows he can't/won't achieve this kind of change.
I'm fully against a private market component because it will lead to social problems. It's a drug, and though it's a nice one not EVERYONE should be able to distribute it. The LCBO does a reasonably good job of encouraging local business and pride in local brewers and wine-makers, while offering a decent selection of global brands. As a side benefit they culture people by showcasing not only certain products but also encouraging Ontarians to think of booze as something to be consumed for tasting pleasure and as a compliment to food. All healthy-attitudes to promote. Now that I'm somewhere that's not like that, I really appreciate their emphasis on these things.
I used to think they were clunky... now I just think they need to be open a little later on certain days and be more open to feedback regarding what brands Ontarians would be interested to see on the shelves.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1297725--private-alcohol-sales-western-provinces-well-seasoned-in-private-alcohol-sales
Also, of course there are a million things that are more worthwhile than making it more convenient to buy liquor, but you could say that about anything. Doesn't mean it doesn't merit a discussion.
Anyway, I think that we should spend time and money on more important things like public transit, ending the problems of homelessness, and making child poverty history in Ontario over needing to get ourselves smashed more quickly. Also, as I said before, if people are so needy for beer all of the time, they should just go and make it themselves.
After all, we've all met some of the millions of Americans that flock to Ontario for the huge selection of booze and the low prices, haven't we? Because you just can't find ANY selection in the U.S.
Meanwhile, people in places like Germany- where there are no restrictions on where, when or how you sell/consume alcohol, will just shake their heads- and continue to sell us BMW'S Porsche's, and continue to outperform us- despite their crazy, ill-advised, non-restriction of alcohol.