Winnipeggers could soon be able to buy a bottle of wine or case of beer alongside their groceries at more stores in the city if a proposal from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries goes forward.
The Crown corporation plans to install pop-up liquor kiosks, or “c-stores,” at six grocery stores in areas of the city that are “not conveniently serviced” by Manitoba Liquor Marts, according to a request for information issued earlier this week.
“The initiative is intended to provide greater customer service and convenience and to further modernize MBLL’s [Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries’] retail model,” the document says.
The kiosks would be about 550 square feet and set up as segregated spaces within stores, with their own walls and infrastructure, according to the request for information, which doesn’t say which stores the kiosks would be located in.
There are already five Liquor Mart Express locations in Winnipeg, which are located within grocery stores in the city.
Critics question need for stores
While the document suggests the plan is to provide better customer service, the owner of one private liquor store questions the need for more government-run liquor stores in the city.
“If there are government liquor stores within a mile or two of every home in Winnipeg … why do you need more stores?” said George Andrews, owner of G.J. Andrews food and liquor store on Academy Road, in Winnipeg’s River Heights neighbourhood.
Andrews said if the issue is convenience, then the government should allow private wine stores to sell more liquor products.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada is also against the idea.
The organization’s legal director, Eric Dumschat, said MADD’s concern is that when alcohol availability increases, “so do the alcohol-related harms.”
“That can be impaired driving, it can be domestic violence, it can be even health-related harms.”
CBC News has reached out to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries for an interview about the proposal.
Winnipeggers could soon buy a bottle of wine or case of beer alongside their groceries at more stores in the city if a proposal from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries goes forward.