When David Yeo starts stocking beer and wine at his convenience store later this week, he hopes it will lead to a win-win: convenience for his customers, and more revenue for him.
“I think it’s going to be lucrative. I didn’t want to miss out,” the owner of Miles Variety, just stops from the Western University gates on Richmond Street, told CBC News. “Hopefully, it will be more convenient for my customers to buy alcohol here instead of driving all the way to the LCBO or beer store.”
As of Thursday, convenience stores in Ontario will be allowed to sell wine, beer, and pre-mixed cocktails. Sales are allowed to happen between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Health officials have warned that the increased access to alcohol will create more social and health problems and will cost the economy and health care system millions of dollars.
But for store owners eager to drum up business and draw customers into their stores, the move is a lifeline, said Yeo. “Students in that age group, they like to drink, they like to socialize. It’s a big thing so I think it will attract more footsteps into the door. Chips, jerky, whatever they eat with alcohol, sales of that will also go up.”
Yeo will empty two sections of his cooler and fill them with alcohol. He’s had to apply through the province for a license to sell. He’ll be training his employees about checking IDs and making sure not to serve anyone already under the influence, he said. “We don’t want to break rules. I want to play by the book.”
At B&C Variety, right outside the university and near student rental homes, Margaret Kim is also planning to sell beer and wine. “We want to sell more and make more money. It’s very quiet here when the students are gone in the summer,” she said. “I hope it will be busier (with alcohol sales) but we don’t know because we’ve never tried it before.”
In Korea, where Kim is from, alcohol sales are common in convenience stores, so she said she’s not worried about the health or security issues that could come from the increased access to alcohol.
“It’s no problem,” she said. “We have a security system so we are not worried.”
Not all store owners are as optimistic about the new Ontario move. At Kid’s Corner Variety, on Vancouver Street, manager Farooq Bahtti said he’s opting out of selling alcohol at the store, partly because it’s close to two elementary schools.
“I’m a father of four kids and my kids are young. I don’t want there to be alcohol where kids get candy,” he said. “I’m not against people doing it, but it’s not for us.”
Due to its proximity to the schools, Kid’s Korner is stacked with candy and other sweets to lure in hungry customers. Every day at lunchtime, about 60 kids come in looking for a sweet fix, he said.
“For the past four years, we’ve basically gone exclusive candy and snacks,” Bahtti said. “Bringing in alcohol doesn’t make sense.” The family has even discussed getting rid of tobacco sales, but hasn’t done that yet, he added. He’s not worried about losing business because he hopes the store will be known as a family-friendly location, Bahtii said.
“This will be a spot where people will know it’s children friendly and they’ll feel comfortable sending their kids and coming in as a family,” he said. “Kids will have peace of mind that their kids are not going to witness some sort of violence or screaming and yelling in our store.”
