NIPIGON — In the wake of the province's incentive to phase out the Beer Stores' contract, the ripple effect is leaving nothing but foam for Beer Store owners in the North.
In a letter to the residents of Nipigon issued on Aug. 19, council members stated that the Beer Store would be closing its doors in September.
But despite the council's efforts to negotiate a solution with the privately owned company, the company has decided to close the location.
Mayor Suzanne Kukko reflected on the impact of the closure in a statement sent to Dougall Media.
“Due to the location of the store being on CP property, the way our taxation is set up, there are no tax implications if that building is vacant, which was a concern for us. That being said, the closure does result in a vacant building in our downtown core, the loss of two jobs, and the inability to return deposit items locally.”
Former councillor Gordon Mackenzie echoes Kukko’s statements in an interview with Newswatch.
Mackenzie wrote to the Beer Store president, highlighting the impacts of this closure on the community.
He’s worried that the closure will add to the long-standing issues of vacant buildings populating the downtown core and the loss of job opportunities that Nipigion’s youthful citizens otherwise fill.
“Are they being offered anything else? If they're offering jobs in Thunder Bay, are they willing to relocate? Can they relocate?” Mackenzie questions.
“We do have a number of vacant buildings in town and that will have a trend that will have an impact on our taxation base.”
Without a Beer Store to handle the recycling of alcohol glass bottles and cans, residents in Nipigon will need to choose to go as far as Marathon or Thunder Bay to return their empties.
The only other option for residents will be to fill their municipal bins or garbage.
“Currently the Beer Store, you can bring your empty beer cans and beer bottles, but you can also bring your wine bottles and your liquor bottles there for recycling. I'm afraid that that's probably gonna have an impact here because that a lot of that material is gonna end up in the townships dump and it does have, it does have a limited lifespan,” said Mackenzie.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois also questions the province's alcohol expansion. Not only is the northern municipality going to lose out on commercial property taxes due to the vacant building, but municipalities will also lose out on the tax revenue that the Beer Store generates.
“That's an economic loss to the communities. Tax revenue from the beer stores, from those locations themselves, will also be missing from those communities. And how is it going to affect consumers?” said Vaugeois.
It is well established that the cost of shipping goods to stores in rural areas adds to the mark-up value of products. For those convenience stores wanting to participate in the province's alcohol expansion, those costs will be put on the consumer, according to Vaugeois.
She said, “I know many northern stores have to have a much higher markup with how expensive it can be to travel their merchandise to them. So how will this affect alcohol prices in the region? They are likely to go up because it will be a scarce commodity which always increases prices.”
Another cost to the employer will be to ensure staff are Smart Serve certified and trained to deal with customers, including those who could be inebriated.
“A lot of stores are staffed by family members or by young people who are not necessarily trained to be dealing with the pressures that come with selling alcohol,” said Vaugeois.
“And that is what the beer store employees and the LCBO employees have always brought, which is training and experience dealing with people who are looking for alcohol in a number of different states of mind. Let's say, it certainly opens up small stores to the risk of crime.”
As for the sale of beer, Kukko mentions that the LCBO will still be the lead seller of beer in Nipigon. That is until convenience and grocery stores choose to take on the task of quenching the public thirst for a cold alcoholic beverage.
“We hope that local entrepreneurs will see this as an opportunity to add a new stream of revenue to their existing operations. It may also motivate someone to open up a convenience store in town again,” said Kukko.
Although the province provided $225 million over 19 months to prepare for the inevitable transition into a new competitive market, the province also mandated that the privately owned Beer Store put safeguards in place to secure jobs and keep locations open for recycling and bottle returns.
Doug Ford’s old-fashioned plan to deliver convenience by expanding the sale of alcoholic beverages to private outlets has gripped the northern regions as other Beer Stone owners are following suit.
The Beer Stores in Geraldton and Cochrane have also announced they will close their doors as well.
“The province has changed the way beer and alcohol are being distributed and sold - it’s a huge change for Ontario, but particularly for our smaller northern communities, with perhaps unintended consequences,” said Kukko.
“As a municipality, our hands are tied, the best we can do is take those lemons and try to make some lemonade.”
Lemonade would make a good radler, but without the sale of beer, the province's open market idea leaves uncertainty for small businesses in the North.
