There is a catch to beer and wine in corner stores
Having beer and wine available at corner stores may sound like a good idea, but it's not. Here's why:
Currently, the LCBO is one of the single largest purchaser of wine & spirits in the world. Yes, that's IN THE WORLD. And guess what buying in such large quantities does for consumers. Low prices. Yes, due to being able to buy in such large quantities, the LCBO can then pass on the savings to you, and they do. Compared with other areas of Canada, we have about the lowest prices. (Note: in other regions, you may find lower prices, but that is only on items that are large sellers, not on other items. In Ontario in LCBO stores, the prices are generally lower across-the-board.) Another bonus of the current set up is the variety. Compared to other regions of Canada, we have the widest variety of wines and spirits available.
And last, but not least, control of sales to minors. By NOT having booze sold in corner stores, but, by having it only available at LCBO, Beer stores and private wine stores, it is easier to keep control of sales to minors.
If it was available in corner stores, the prices would be higher, the variety would be very slim, and control of sales to minors would be much less enforceable.
If you are a minor and are thinking, great, it will be easier for me to get some alcohol for the party this weekend, think also how your allowance might not be able to cover the increased price. Okay, so maybe you have to pay the 19 year old a bit extra for delivery anyway, so this might not be such a bad thing for you. But, you're not supposed to be drinking anyway.
Anyway, for a bit of added convenience, we would pay more for less of a variety.
No thanks.
Currently, the LCBO is one of the single largest purchaser of wine & spirits in the world. Yes, that's IN THE WORLD. And guess what buying in such large quantities does for consumers. Low prices. Yes, due to being able to buy in such large quantities, the LCBO can then pass on the savings to you, and they do. Compared with other areas of Canada, we have about the lowest prices. (Note: in other regions, you may find lower prices, but that is only on items that are large sellers, not on other items. In Ontario in LCBO stores, the prices are generally lower across-the-board.) Another bonus of the current set up is the variety. Compared to other regions of Canada, we have the widest variety of wines and spirits available.
And last, but not least, control of sales to minors. By NOT having booze sold in corner stores, but, by having it only available at LCBO, Beer stores and private wine stores, it is easier to keep control of sales to minors.
If it was available in corner stores, the prices would be higher, the variety would be very slim, and control of sales to minors would be much less enforceable.
If you are a minor and are thinking, great, it will be easier for me to get some alcohol for the party this weekend, think also how your allowance might not be able to cover the increased price. Okay, so maybe you have to pay the 19 year old a bit extra for delivery anyway, so this might not be such a bad thing for you. But, you're not supposed to be drinking anyway.
Anyway, for a bit of added convenience, we would pay more for less of a variety.
No thanks.
2 comments:
Ummm....no they aren't. From FT News, acclaimed wine sriter Jancis Robinson:
"And I must have been told at least eight times on my last short visit that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the monopoly that retails alcoholic drinks in Canada’s most populous province, is the world’s largest single buyer of wine. (I don’t see how it can be. For example, while the LCBO retails wine to fewer than 13 million people, of all ages, whose average annual wine consumption is 11 litres, the leading British supermarket Tesco has a 25 per cent share of the retail wine market in a country of 60 million people, so in effect supplies 15 million people whose average annual wine consumption is 22 litres.)"
Also, if you're suggesting private companies can't handle selling alcohol, are you suggesting that the gov take over the 18,000 licensed bars and restaurants as well? How about Pharmacies?
And as for pricing, it is a well documented FACT that prices in a private market go DOWN, not UP. Alberta has seen price drops many times in a years since privatization.
Sorry, your entire argument has ben debunked, mostly by the panel set up by the province to addres the same questions.
Do you really want to live in a province where the government is in the retail business, and private companies run health-care?
I said One of the, not The.
Bars and restaurants sell drinks, not cases and such.
Prices in private market might go down for high-volume sellers, but at the sacrifice of the pricing and variety of the other products. I'll keep my variety and generally lower prices thank you.
I want to live in a province where the citizens, through the government, reap the profits of a successful business (like the LCBO) and invest these profits in public health care and other social services. And I do.
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