With just two days until beer and wine flood into convenience stores across Ontario, The Beer Store is preparing for a future where it is just one of thousands of places people can grab a can or bottle on the way home.
On Thursday, 4,100-plus convenience stores will be allowed to sell beer, wine and ready-to-drink beverages in a sped-up alcohol liberalization policy pushed through by the Ford government.
As part of that deal, to ultimately deliver alcohol to as many as 8,500 new locations, the province agreed to pay The Beer Store $225 million and allow its stores to diversify what they offer.
Now that its grip as one of a few exclusive alcohol retailers is slipping, The Beer Store has announced it will transition its in-person locations to offer snacks and energy drinks, blitz the province with an advertising campaign and fortify its delivery infrastructure.
The Ontario-wide chain — owned by Labatt, Sleeman and Molson, three of the country’s biggest breweries — said it will offer new options in its stores to go with the beer and other drinks it already sells: salty snacks like Old Dutch, Frito Lay; meat like Jack Link’s and Great Canadian Meat; and energy drinks like Red Bull.
The language of the agreement between the Ontario government and The Beer Store also allows it to sell lottery tickets but bans it from stocking either tobacco or cannabis.
“Bring it on — we’re ready,” Roy Benin, president of The Beer Store, said in a statement.
“We see this as a new chapter for The Beer Store and we’re excited to compete. All of our channels – from distribution to retail to deposit return will continue to deliver for Ontario.”
The beer conglomerate said it has also expanded its distribution fleet, helping to bring close to 4,000 convenience stores online to sell beer. The retail giant is involved behind the scenes in stocking many of those locations, and grocery stores, as well as its own storefronts.
To drive home the message — and remind people of where it sees itself in an evolving alcohol landscape — a new advertisement and media campaign is also on the way, the company said.
The move to retain its space in the market and future-proof The Beer Store comes as the government hails the final step in its long-standing promise to bring beer to convenience stores.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the policy would add convenience and promised it would be handled responsibly.
“They’re well equipped — they’ve dealt with everything from tobacco to lottery tickets, now beer and wine,” Ford said. “They’re going to be very responsible.”