Ontario small town ‘concerned' as string of Beer Store closures raise questions

Global News

a day ago

Mayor Alan MacNevin was in Ottawa for a municipal conference when he found out the Beer Store in his small town had been slated for closure.
'Normally, I would be in Little Current and probably having those conversations, but I think as the day goes on, they'll be emailing and texting to talk about it,' he said.
MacNevin is the mayor of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, which includes the small town of Little Current. With a population of roughly 1,200 people, it is situated beside the Highway 6 bridge onto Manitoulin Island.
The Beer Store announced Monday that 12 more of its locations would close in response to liberalized alcohol sales rules and the challenges of a 'changing marketplace,' including its Little Current store.
That location is one of only four places in town that sell alcohol, and is a popular place for tourists to stop and pick up drinks on their way to camp or visit the cottage for a weekend.
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It's also where they stop at the end of a weekend to recycle and collect the deposit for used cans and bottles.
'It's a high-volume place for people that are coming for a holiday to pick up beverages from The Beer Store,' MacNevin said. 'Plus, as well, we're concerned about the fact that returning your bottles is going to become an issue because there aren't places (nearby) that currently accept returns.'
A map maintained by the Ontario government suggests the nearest location to return empties would be either a 25-minute drive down to Manitowaning or 32 minutes the other way to Mindemoya. Both are small communities on Manitoulin Island.
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McNever worries that more cans will end up in landfill and the community will lose an important source of employment.
'There are permanent jobs that are going to disappear from those locations as well as summer student jobs and part-timers who work there,' he said. 'I know there's already a bit of a wave being created on Facebook about the issue — people are surprised and in shock.'
3:58
Ontario keeps paying Beer Store agreement as alcohol revenue falls
The closure of the Beer Store in Little Current will take place on Oct. 19, according to the corporation.
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It's the latest in a steady string of announcements from The Beer Store — owned by Molson, Labatt and Sleeman — and takes the number of closures into triple digits over the past year.
The closures began after the Ford government announced it would allow convenience, grocery and big box stores to sell alcohol, giving The Beer Store up to $225 million to break its exclusive retail contract.
Under the agreement, The Beer Store must keep at least 300 locations open until the end of this year. After that, it can close as many stores as it chooses.
The Beer Store has repeatedly refused to say how many stores it has closed so far and how many it plans to shutter by the end of the year. It has also declined to say if it will close every storefront next year.
Calculations by Global News based on public announcements and information from The Beer Store's union show the latest raft of closures will take the total to more than 100 since the Ford government announced its payment to the retailer.
While some of the closures have been in Toronto, London or other major cities, The Beer Store has also chosen to close a number of stores in smaller or remote communities.
Places like Sioux Lookout, Deep River and Ridgetown have been included on recent closure lists.
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'I guess a lot of small communities thought there was going to be an exemption from some of these closures, but I guess The Beer Store is restructuring in some way to save costs,' MacNevin said.
'A lot of things like events or weddings, they get their alcohol from The Beer Store in terms of that product. It will be interesting to see how they'll be able to manoeuvre that because the LCBO sells very limited supply of beer … so, it's going to have an impact.'
The Beer Store locations set to close on Oct. 19 are: