Today the BC Government made a few announcements but didn’t really make any announcement that wasn’t already known or long overdue.
Firstly they said that the Liquor Store-within-a-store system will be coming into effect April 1, 2015. Yes we know that. When they first announced the schedule for the changes they pointed out that most changes would take place by April 2015. Ignoring the fact that this has already been handled poorly and would only affect 2? supermarkets in Vancouver.
Secondly they said that the discounts that all liquor stores etc. get will now be harmonized so that they are on a level playing field, however I can’t seem to find an announcement of what that harmonized rate will be? Whatever it is I expect it to be the cause of both happiness and consternation depending on whether you’re running a private liquor store or a VQA wine store. I doubt this will translate into bigger savings for you, the consumer but there might be a few more sale items here and there. Again we knew this was going to happen, the only thing we didn’t know was the rate – and we still don’t (that I can find).
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hirdly, Government liquor stores are to open on Sundays, later in the evening and will have more refrigerated options. This is long overdue, I salute this decision as a consumer as we consign such archaic rules to the dumpster of “I can’t believe we put up with that for so long” history. Although I doubt I will start buying beer from Government Liquor Stores because of this, I personally prefer to buy from private stores that are passionate and knowledgeable about craft beer (and offer CAMRA BC member benefits!).
Finally we are moving to a graduated system for brewery mark-ups, this really only affects the largest breweries at the moment, I can’t find too much information on this but it looks like it could be good for giant breweries and a bit worrisome for smaller breweries that are still growing – again this won’t have a huge effect on consumers as any savings are unlikely to be passed on to you but raised costs might.
So a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to these announcements, only a few things that really affect the consumer directly and most of it seems to have been previously announced.
Adam Chatburn
President, CAMRA BC – Vancouver Branch
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