Beer Store needs a Lifetime Achievement Award

[kettal]

I think Beer Store needs to earn a lifetime achievement award for being the leader in consistently ugly building and site design. All through downtown we are subject to these buildings which look like they've been airlifted from Orillia.

Total disrespect for their surroundings.

 

[Maggie]

In this case its not what's on the outside but what's on the inside that counts, that golden yummy goodness. Our beer stores look like palaces compared to some stores in the states that sell beer and liquor.

 

[Conrad Black]

Kettle is correct. They suck from an urban perspective. I guess the fact that a case of beer is much heavier than a bottle of wine or booze is the reason they are designed with all the parking in front. They could at least try to put the parking in the back.

 

[andomano]

It's interesting to note that the Beer Store hasn't yet completely overhauled all of their signage yet. As far as I can tell almost all Beer Stores in Southern Ontario have changed their signs to the Black background and white lettering. I know in Thunder Bay and in the rest of Northwestern Ontario, all the stores are still operating using the brewer's retail colours that has the Orange background and white lettering, and are still using the old orange and white trucks.

 

[Tewder]

Why don't beer stores offer drive-by service? One window to place the order and pay, and then you pull up to a door, pop the trunk while another employee loads your purchase, and off you go. No parking lot required.

 

[jmacmillan]

Reminds me of the one on Church Street, with its underused parking lot in front.

 

[Dilla]

Why don't beer stores offer drive-by service? One window to place the order and pay, and then you pull up to a door, pop the trunk while another employee loads your purchase, and off you go. No parking lot required.

They tried that at a few locations in London, Ont. Of course MADD had a fit. I don't believe they're doing it any more, although I'm not sure if that's to do with MADD's indignation over the matter, or they're own decision.

 

[andomano]

Why don't beer stores offer drive-by service? One window to place the order and pay, and then you pull up to a door, pop the trunk while another employee loads your purchase, and off you go. No parking lot required.

It sounds more like insurance companies would have a problem with this. Procedures such as this could result in slips and falls, kidnappings, and even theft.

 

[GraphicMatt]

They should just do beer delivery in urban areas.

 

[TKTKTK]

Surely the BeerStore has a thick folio with plans to redevelop all their downtown sites. They don't even need a street presence, they could rent out surface-level to other retail and just have a driveway/ramp to a second level (or, hell, a basement), and rent the rest of the building out as parking, or office, or whatever is appropriate for the site. It just seems like a huge wasted potential stream of profit (though I suppose being a monopoly they're not exactly wanting for streams of profit).

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Why don't beer stores offer drive-by service? One window to place the order and pay, and then you pull up to a door, pop the trunk while another employee loads your purchase, and off you go. No parking lot required.

I remember the location at Markham Rd. & Lawrence in Scarborough which had a drive through in '86 or '87, I was working at the Cedarbrae Cinemas right across the street then which is why I can date it.

 

[ShonTron]

There is a Beer Store drive-thru in Hamilton on Barton Street:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie...=shj2Kb3Ni5hWkKsZcb2NqA&cbp=12,168.51,,0,3.01

 

[kettal]

The cherry on the top is the custom advertising podiums that they have in each parking lot.

 

[ShonTron]

The cherry on the top is the custom advertising podiums that they have in each parking lot.

Of which many are illegal, in Toronto and elsewhere.
http://illegalsigns.ca/index.php?s=Beer+Store

The Beer Store's urban unfriendly stores are one of several reasons why I'd advocate a Quebec or Pennsylvania style system of beer and some wine in (if to appease MADD and such) strictly licensed stores (corner stores, supermarkets, that's it), and leave the full-line wine selection and hard liquor to the LCBO.

The LCBO at least can - and does - adapt its store model - and at least even its LCBoxes have the entrance facing the street, even in "SmartCentres" like the one in Downsview.

 

[Ladies Mile]

In this case its not what's on the outside but what's on the inside that counts, that golden yummy goodness. Our beer stores look like palaces compared to some stores in the states that sell beer and liquor.

I'd like to see a picture of any building that made the Beer Store look like a palace.

I've seen as ugly in the states, but not uglier.