Yorkton is getting a new liquor store. Part of the province’s effort to privatize the sale of alcohol, communities like Yorkton are being positioned as “under-served” and receiving new stores from private companies. This is in addition to other communities which have had their stores privatized.
Yorkton’s store is interesting in that it will be operated by Sobeys, the grocery store chain which left the city a few years ago. It is strange that they would be at our collective door, bottle of wine in one hand and a case of beer in the other, asking us to come back to them. It’s also the kind of thing that would spark rumors, since it’s odd to have a liquor store under the Sobeys banner but not a grocery store, which is their main business, which will, inevitably, lead people to wonder if there are going to be more grocery options coming.
Unlike the proposals to privatize other crowns, I have been relatively positive about private liquor stores in the province. This is because the SLGA stores have felt a bit behind other provinces, whether in selection, price or design, and the competition has served to liven up the stores that do exist. Inventory has improved across the board, and the stores are now promoting products made in province, which should have been a priority for a long time.
The plans to privatize everything else has served to make me more suspicious, especially when it comes to the way these stores are getting set up. It’s still the government deciding where and when the stores will open, they’re just not running them, and they seem to be trying to run themselves out of business.
Without this plan to introduce private stores, it’s unlikely that Yorkton would see another liquor store. The current location is plenty large, has a healthy selection and has always seemed to meet demand efficiently. The city itself isn’t very large, geographically, and the shopping areas are in close proximity, making it difficult to justify another location in order to meet the demands of emerging neighborhoods.
What a Sobeys store would do is split the market. It is likely impossible to justify privatizing the current store like they are doing in smaller communities, it makes too much money. If it makes less money, they can. Since it’s difficult to argue that the city needs two stores, I wonder if this is an attempt to sabotage the current location.
Other communities in the area, like Melville, will see their only store go private, and the good part of increased competition would happen either way as a result – it’s a community close enough that it would serve as competition for the local store. Either way, the local SLGA location will have to adapt to a more competitive environment, and that’s good for consumers.
But are there enough customers to justify having two stores in town?
I like the idea of having more competition, and I like the private stores I’ve visited in the province’s larger cities. But I am not completely convinced Yorkton has the market for two liquor stores, and I’m getting suspicious that these plans were put in place by people who know the city doesn’t have enough of a market for two locations. I hope I will be proven wrong.
