Wine and Wealth. In the Evening Standard’s What the wines in Succession reveal about the Roys, Hannah Crosbie writes about how the fictional Roy family drinks wine in HBO’s Succession.
Jun 7, 2023·edited Jun 7, 2023Liked by Rachel Kagan
Is the Wine Store (or whatever it's called) Crown owned? Also, as a non-Crown corp. how did Loblaws/No Frills get exclusivity on wine/beer sales? Also, also, I heard that 7-11 might be granted a license to sell alcohol in Ontario. Is that true? And will they stock anything besides Colt 45 and Olde English?
Those wine stores are owned by two large wine conglomerates - the Wine Rack is owned by Arterra Wines Canada, and I believe the Wine Shop is Peller, so not crown owned. Their retail model is unique to them only and I believe grandfathered through legislation. While they sell their own VQA brands, a lot of the wines sold in those stores are actually “International Canadian Blends,” which are mostly non-Ontario grapes (vs VQA which is 100% Ontario grapes).
In 2016, grocers (selected via a competitive bid process) were permitted to become licensees to sell beer and wine, a move made by the then Liberal government to modernize alcohol retail in Ontario, but it’s all still part of the LCBO.
And you are right, 7-Eleven was granted a license to sell alcohol, but it’s in-store only - they will be permitted to serve Colt 45 but it has to be with food (I guess taquitos?) at tables in new dining sections of stores.
But the general idea of buying alcohol to go from convenience stores (similar to Quebec) and expanding beer/wine sales to convenience stores was a proposal by the PC government during the 2018 election. As far as I know that proposal is still on the table but the province would need to negotiate a new contract with the Beer Store that would allow for expanded sales in other retail outlets.
And if that were to move forward, I wonder how it would impact bottle shops in Ontario who are now allowed to sell wine to go, but it must be with a food item. Would the rules change so it would be similar to the LCBO and beer store? Time will tell…
Is the Wine Store (or whatever it's called) Crown owned? Also, as a non-Crown corp. how did Loblaws/No Frills get exclusivity on wine/beer sales? Also, also, I heard that 7-11 might be granted a license to sell alcohol in Ontario. Is that true? And will they stock anything besides Colt 45 and Olde English?
Thanks for all these great questions, Sarah!
Those wine stores are owned by two large wine conglomerates - the Wine Rack is owned by Arterra Wines Canada, and I believe the Wine Shop is Peller, so not crown owned. Their retail model is unique to them only and I believe grandfathered through legislation. While they sell their own VQA brands, a lot of the wines sold in those stores are actually “International Canadian Blends,” which are mostly non-Ontario grapes (vs VQA which is 100% Ontario grapes).
In 2016, grocers (selected via a competitive bid process) were permitted to become licensees to sell beer and wine, a move made by the then Liberal government to modernize alcohol retail in Ontario, but it’s all still part of the LCBO.
And you are right, 7-Eleven was granted a license to sell alcohol, but it’s in-store only - they will be permitted to serve Colt 45 but it has to be with food (I guess taquitos?) at tables in new dining sections of stores.
But the general idea of buying alcohol to go from convenience stores (similar to Quebec) and expanding beer/wine sales to convenience stores was a proposal by the PC government during the 2018 election. As far as I know that proposal is still on the table but the province would need to negotiate a new contract with the Beer Store that would allow for expanded sales in other retail outlets.
And if that were to move forward, I wonder how it would impact bottle shops in Ontario who are now allowed to sell wine to go, but it must be with a food item. Would the rules change so it would be similar to the LCBO and beer store? Time will tell…
Thanks for the insights!
First, what was the horrible red Tom was trying to push at his party? Second, how do YOU feel about privatizing Elsie?
Oh sorry I see it was “unidentified” lol
I didn’t actually watch the show! 🥴
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