Grocery stores in Toronto have stopped selling alcohol for lack of profit, a move that has caused mixed feelings among Queen City consumers.
Radio-Canada has confirmed that two grocery stores that previously sold alcoholic beverages — a Loblaws store on Queen Street West and a FreshCo grocery store on Bathurst Avenue — have removed those products from their shelves.
Beer and wine have been sold in 450 supermarkets across the province since 2015, but according to Michelle Wasylyshen, spokeswoman for the Retail Council of Canada, those stores have pulled out due to low profit margins.
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Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne launched beer sales in grocery stores across the province in 2015.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette
The Ontario system limits the profit margin on alcohol to 2%, which is extremely low compared to other products, she says.
In an environment where shoplifting is on the rise, grocery stores are actually losing money selling beer and wine, which is unsustainable.
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The decision to take alcohol off the shelves leaves some consumers indifferent.
I don’t buy alcohol from grocery stores as the selection is lousy.
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Jason Smith doesn’t buy his alcoholic beverages from the supermarket because the selection leaves a lot to be desired.
Photo: Radio Canada
You shouldn’t remove the alcohol, people like to shop for groceries and drinks at the same time, says Nicole Mickelow.
The intent [du gouvernement] should allow people to buy a bottle of wine from the supermarket every once in a while, but it takes time to change people’s habits, says Sandy Raj.
“Ontarians like you are used to buying alcohol outside of the grocery store,” says Professor Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Research Laboratory for Agricultural and Food Analysis at Dalhousie University.
Grocery store margins in Ontario are slightly lower than elsewhere in Canada, but grocery stores across the country don’t just sell alcohol to make money, the professor explains. Above all, they want to increase the number of customers.
In Ontario, however, habits don’t necessarily exist, argues Sylvain Charlebois. Mixing food and alcohol isn’t as common in Ontario as it is in Quebec, he says.
With information from Mirna Djukic