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LCBO / The Beer Store

Should the LCBO be deregulated?

  • Total voters
    169
  • Poll closed .
Fritter said:
Interesting you say that. I would assume that being the world's largest purchaser of beverage alcohol, that Ontario would have some of the best product selection.
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Unfortunately not the case. As someone who is enjoying the revival of the classic cocktail scene around here it can be difficult to find some of the higher quality brands to make them myself. If the LCBO can't sell enough of it, they don't stock it. Good American ryes have been historically hard to find. My biggest peeve at the moment is the sad selection of vermouths and other fortified wines.
 
ttk77 said:
Unfortunately not the case. As someone who is enjoying the revival of the classic cocktail scene around here it can be difficult to find some of the higher quality brands to make them myself. If the LCBO can't sell enough of it, they don't stock it. Good American ryes have been historically hard to find. My biggest peeve at the moment is the sad selection of vermouths and other fortified wines.
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Exactly - essentially no vermouth selection, and if you want a bottle of madeira you have to hunt for it. Also, very few fruit spirits. No poire williams, a single cheapo brand of kirsch, a single grappa at the Manulife Centre store - which is a relatively large store by LCBO standards. Once I complained about this, and I was told that product selection was the responsibility of the store manager, but if you look at their online catalogue you see that's not where the problem lies. Considering their reliance on part-time workers and this product selection problem, my guess is all they care about is their sales figures, and they couldn't be bothered with giving us access to interesting products that would take shelf space away from Bailey's and Absolut vodka.
 
Expansion of Beer/Cider to 76 more markets across Ontario.

https://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2017...-to-76-more-grocery-stores-by-canada-day.html

Many more Downtown locations this time. Curious to me, is the number of locations that share a plaza/mall or even building w/an LCBO; that disappoints in that I'd rather see 'gaps' filled than duplication.

GTA Locations:


Fortinos

Burlington
1059 Plains Rd. E

Fortinos
Toronto
330 Queens Plate Dr.

Fortinos
Oakville
493 Dundas St. W.

Loblaws
Richmond Hill
301 High Tech Rd.

Loblaws
Toronto
650 Dupont St.

Loblaws
Toronto
396 St. Clair Ave. W.

Loblaws
Toronto
60 Carlton St.

Longo's
Brampton
7700 Hurontario St.

Longo's
Toronto
15 York St.

Longo's
Vaughan
9200 Weston Rd. W.

Metro
Brampton
10886 Hurontario St.

Metro
Toronto
89 Gould St.

Metro
Toronto
100 Lynn Williams St.

Metro
Toronto
735 College St.

Pat Mart
Mississauga
3415-333 Dundas St. E.

Real Canadian Superstore
Ajax
30 Kingston Rd. W.

Sobeys
Toronto
147 Laird Dr.

Sobeys
Oakville
1500 Upper Middle Rd.

Sobeys
Toronto
81 St.Clair Ave. E.

Starsky Fine Foods
Mississauga
3115 Dundas St. W.

Starsky Fine Foods
Mississauga
2040 Dundas St. E.

Vince's Martket
Sharon
19101 Leslie St.

Walmart Supercentre
Brampton
50 Quarry Edge Dr.

Walmart Supercentre
Mississauga
100 City Centre Dr.

Walmart Supercentre
Bowmanville
Hwy #2

Walmart Supercentre
Milton
1280 Steeles Ave. E.

Walmart Supercentre
Oshawa
1741 Harmony Rd.

Walmart Supercentre
Toronto
799 Milner Ave.

Walmart Supercentre
Toronto
1900 Eglinton Ave.

Walmart Supercentre
Mississauga
800 Matheson Blvd.

Walmart Supercentre
Brampton
30 Coventry Rd.

Walmart Supercentre
Woodbridge
8300 Highway 27

Walmart Supercentre
Oshawa
680 Laval Dr
 
There doesn't seem to be much planning for these locations. It's been like that since the program's inception.

This is just a cash grab from the Ontario Liberals to sell 'licenses'.
 
In some of these cases it's going to hurt existing LCBO business. The Longo's at 15 york, one of the locations listed above, has an LCBO almost right at the top of the escalators descending into the grocery store. I was under the impression that these licences were going to go first to areas that were under serviced by the LCBO and Beer Store. Not that I'm complaining. This is where I do most of my grocery shopping and it will make buying booze even more convenient.
 
ttk77 said:
In some of these cases it's going to hurt existing LCBO business. The Longo's at 15 york, one of the locations listed above, has an LCBO almost right at the top of the escalators descending into the grocery store. I was under the impression that these licences were going to go first to areas that were under serviced by the LCBO and Beer Store. Not that I'm complaining. This is where I do most of my grocery shopping and it will make buying booze even more convenient.
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The Walmart on Hwy 27 has an LCBO in the same plaza.

I wonder if this is just a lottery.

My guess is that in 10-15 years it will be open to all Grocery stores.
 
narduch said:
I wonder if this is just a lottery.
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My understanding is that the government is auctioning these licenses off. The government only broad divides them up by region.

Within each region retailer 'x' wins 5 licenses and they decide which of their stores in that area they go to.

If anyone understands different, please share, but that's what I believe to be the case.
 
ttk77 said:
In some of these cases it's going to hurt existing LCBO business. The Longo's at 15 york, one of the locations listed above, has an LCBO almost right at the top of the escalators descending into the grocery store. I was under the impression that these licences were going to go first to areas that were under serviced by the LCBO and Beer Store. Not that I'm complaining. This is where I do most of my grocery shopping and it will make buying booze even more convenient.
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Same scenario with Loblaws at 60 Carlton. The Metro on Lynn Williams has an LCBO just down the street and a beer store on the other side of the parking lot.
 
From The Star, at this link:

Booze, benches, bathrooms; a simple plan to elevate Toronto’s parks: Keenan

A few small changes to the city’s neighbourhood parks would make them so much more enjoyable. But can the city stay clear of overregulating any changes?

Right now, the city is conducting a survey about its parkland strategy (you can fill it out online or attend public meetings about it around the city). At the same time, it is entertaining a proposal from Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, chair of the parks committee, to allow people to buy and drink beer in public parks.

So it seems an opportune time — as we enjoy the last few weeks of prime Toronto park season and reflect on our experiences of the summer — to offer a few suggestions. These are small ones — nothing so grandiose as a plan for new parks, or even new types of parks, and nothing so expensive, either. But from my picnic blanket under the trees, they seem like they’re small things that would make a huge difference to our enjoyment of park spaces.

First off, yes, let people drink beer (or wine, or whatever) in parks. But don’t bother limiting it to some kind of rotating “beer truck” special events — as the proposal seems like it might — or otherwise bog it down in quicksand of overregulation. As my colleague at Metro, Matt Elliott, recently wrote, there’s every danger that the city will put up all kinds of fenced-off beer holding pens in corners of parks, or put so many rules and permits onto what can be drunk or sold and how that they suck all the fun out of what should be a way for people to have fun.

Golf courses can already have their licensed area include all the playing areas and the grass around the clubhouse —essentially the whole course — so people can wander around with a beer while they play. The same seems like it would work just fine in public parks.

Right now — famously at Trinity Bellwoods, but also even at my local family playground — many, many people routinely bring a bottle of wine or a tall can of IPA to the park. And it causes few problems that anyone can see. All the city has to do is change the law to conform to a relatively uncontroversial common practice.

And then, to complement this, the city can go ahead and license sales concessions — truck-based or otherwise — as a service to park users and a source of cash, too.

It was after I had kids that I realized parks serve roughly the same purpose in a community as pubs: they’re convenient local places to relax, blow off steam, celebrate, meet people, and catch up on neighbourhood news and gossip. Seems like there are relatively few reasons not to add another similarity to the list by letting people do those things over a beer if they want.

Which brings us to my second suggestion. You know what else bars have? Bar stools. Chairs. Places for people to sit down while they socialize and pass the time.
...
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What we want...
Picnic-Food-Foodals-Guide-to-the-Best-Baskets.jpg


What we'll get...
1280px-Chain-link_and_barbed_wire.jpg


Or something like a "dog park", but for adult humans over 19 only (with proper documents only)...
ShowImage
 
With security guards in yellow shirts, checking I.D, standing around keeping a close watch just in case a picnic lunch gets out of control.
 
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