As unionized LCBO employees continue to strike over Premier Doug Ford’s decision to allow some alcohol products in convenience stores, these small business owners say it’s high time they get a shot at the market.
Nimesh Mistry has owned Jug City Variety on King Street in Oshawa for seven years. He feels that the change will bring much-needed relief to his business amid high taxes and low profit margins.
“I think beer and mixed drinks should be allowed in convenience stores. Convenience stores have not been supported by the federal and provincial governments. There are too many taxes on things like tobacco. There is very little margin that we work with,” he told True North.
Provincial liquor store workers in Ontario have been on strike since July 4 over Ford’s decision to allow private business owners to participate in the province’s currently monopolistic liquor market. The Ontario Public Sector Employees Union, on behalf of the LCBO, worries that the added competition will cut into LCBO workers’ business hours.
Convenience store owners in Durham Region told True North that they want the opportunity to compete. They say this move will bring more foot traffic into their businesses and help them stay afloat.
Mistry said being allowed to sell alcohol would enable him to keep his business alive as the owner of an independent convenience store. He currently deals with small profit margins due to high taxes and competition from giants, including the Dollarama down the road.
“I have friends in the States, and it’s ridiculous—the amount of taxes we pay on alcohol and cigarettes. You can buy these types of products at half the price in the States compared to Canada,” Mistry said. “It erodes the profit out of the equation for the business owners, and it is very difficult, and I would say it is almost impossible to survive these days.”
Mistry said allowing convenience stores to be included in the market will only improve the Canadian economy.
“I think bringing alcohol into convenience stores will add more jobs at LCBO, including warehousing people, more warehouses, more supply chain jobs, more sales and marketing jobs,” he said. “If you add two refrigerators to a store, you have more refrigeration manufacturer’s jobs, more equipment, and more maintenance is needed.”
He said if Canada is to continue being a first-world country, it shouldn’t have monopolies.
Sinthiya Sureshcumar, the owner of TTY Convenience in Courtice, Ont., looks forward to getting her liquor license if the provincial government follows through on its promise to ease up on its liquor monopoly.
“My sales will increase, and my business will go to a different level,” she said. “More people will come in when (they) have a party on the way to grab a beer,” Sureshcumar said. “That’s easy if it’s nearby, rather than finding where the LCBO is and then driving to another place for other stuff. I think it’s convenient. That’s why it’s a convenience store.”
People will come in for the beer and leave with other things in hand.
“If (convenience stores) are adding (alcohol), they will attract more customers. If someone is buying beers, they’ll also be getting peanuts, chips or drinks with that,” Harshil Shah, the owner of New Rave Convenience in Oshawa, said.
Shah said alcohol wouldn’t add that much profit alone, but it might help attract customers, increasing the sales of everything else.
He said the potential for bottles to break could add risk to convenience stores, but the overall foot traffic would likely make up for those costs.
Shah pointed to a recent decision by the Ontario government to allow the Beer Store to sell lottery tickets, which will eat into sales that have traditionally gone to variety stores.
“We need business. Beer Stores will now be allowed to sell the lottery, so we are going to lose business as well,” Shah said.
He thinks that if government changes make convenience stores compete with booze sellers, it’s only fair for the LCBO to compete for business like everyone else.