B.C.’s first non-alcoholic bar set to open in November

A Port Coquitlam, B.C., couple is betting that a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol is going to be a hit.

Racquel Foran and Jim O’Connor are preparing to open Bevees, a store and lounge that will offer more than 300 types of booze-free products, which will include beer, wine, spirits, liquors and pre-mixed mocktails.

They told Global News the aim is to give people who do not drink alcohol the full bar experience and the socializing and mixing that goes along with it.

“Since we came up with the idea, we’ve been overwhelmed with the growth we’ve seen, everywhere,” Foran told Global News.

“There’ve been all kinds of businesses opening up across Canada, all of the States they’ve started to pop up — new online products, new sellers, the growth even in just the last six months has been through the roof.”

The couple said they hope to open their bar next month.

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Statistics Canada said overall sales of alcohol were down 1.2 per cent between 2021 and 2022, which is the first decline in seven years and the largest in more than a decade.

Sales of wine and beer are down even more, by four per cent for wine and 2.8 per cent for beer. That is the largest decrease since Statscan began tracking alcohol sales in 1949.