The Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) has made another pitch for the sale of beer and wine at convenience stores.
The group held a press conference at Queen’s Park on Oct. 29, where it announced that when Ontario modernizes its alcohol retailing system, leading chain stores including 7-Eleven, Mac’s (Couche Tard) and Petro Canada will dedicate 30% of their beer and wine shelf space for Ontario wines and craft beer.
The press conference aimed to demonstrate that chain convenience stores are serious about the reforming the retail alcohol system, said John Perenack, communications group head at StrategyCorp, which handles PR and communications for OCSA.
As for the craft beer tie-in, Perenack said “convenience stores are local businesses, so it fits really well with other local businesses like craft breweries and Ontario wineries. The idea is change needs to come to the system and when change comes, [convenience stores] want the Ontario craft beer and Ontario wine companies to know we’re going to support them.”
The initiative is OCSA’s latest effort to drum up support for the sale of alcohol at convenience stores. In 2011, OCSA launched FreeOurBeer.ca, which asked Ontarians to sign a petition supporting the sale of beer and wine at convenience stores. It also released a survey that found the majority of Ontarians (60%) support such sales.
Earlier this year, a study funded by the OCSA found that expanding alcohol retailing beyond the LCBO and Beer Store would preserve the LCBO’s profit and could even lead to greater profits for the government.
While the public may like the idea of buying a bottle of wine at the corner store, the call for reform is falling on deaf ears at Queen’s Park. Just a few hours after last week’s press conference, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told reports that her government won’t be allowing convenience stores to sell beer and wine.
“This is a long-term objective,” said Perenack. “We’re not talking in terms of 10 years, but it’s not measured in weeks either.”
He added that it’s likely there will be an election in the spring. “Who knows if the government will actually change or not, but discussing this issue is certainly something that’s important to the OCSA members and they’re doing to keep doing it.”
