The Bar Towel

rejtable wrote:

mintjellie wrote:I think that as a pilot project, the province should keep the lcbo monopoly in most of the province, but open up larger urban areas like the GTA, London, Barrie, Niagara, Windsor, and Ottawa to private specialty retailers who compete alongside the lcbo and brewers retail. Shops that are allowed to sell nothing but beer, wine, and spirits. Maybe even some ancillary products like glassware, serving equipment, fine cheeses and cured meats, bread, etc. Hopefully, at least some of them would specialize in the high end shit - craft beer, premium wines, premiums spirits, etc. Finally, let them order in at wholesale prices without using the LCBO as a middleman. Let them order in any product they want, so long as it is lab tested by the LCBO (let the bureacrats stick their petty fiefdoms hand in the pie somewhere), and labelled with an accurate ABV - strip labels applied by the store itself should be fine.

Isn't this essentially what Nova Scotia has? In fact, I thought the private retailers were allowed to sell pretty much what they want, provided it's NOT sold by the NSLC. Anyone?

Essentially, yes. Except I would like to see things go a step further where these specialty retailers could actively compete against the LCBO and Brewers Retail selling products they carry as well.

If the LCBO and Brewers Retail really are so effective at providing good pricing in an efficiently run operation, then why should a little competition worry them? Right?

Jon Walker wrote: But that's okay...you can have lots of amazing stuff. Nope. Quebec doesn't currently allow stores to ONLY sell beer, wine and spirits...just depanneurs. So you will have to save the majority of your shelf space for cereal, diapers and instant coffee.

Doesn't sound quite so barrier free now does it?

Jon I anticipated as much because - as you say - the Deps really don't sell much outside of French Canadian beer.

I think the store to develop would be one that focuses on- for now - the great Quebec beers, AND gourmet coffee, cheeses, local artisan breads and sausage - etc. It would be pretty monotonous anyway to sell only Quebec / French / Belgian / Tyrolean or whatever beer. So that's a 'for now' plan, you could have a pretty good store.

Another development that must take place is a motivated importer who can work with willing producers of great beer. Supposing they exist. I agree the labeling laws are pretty much leaving the denizens of Quebec completely fucked for international variety (we here all know how that feels, but Quebec is double-fucked, vive le langue Francais.) I wonder if this must remain so. It's pretty retarded regulation and makes Franco-Canadian Quebec look like a knuckle-dragging, radical xenophobic & paranoid culture. Which it really isn't.

Anecdotally, there were no Burger Kings in Montreal until the mid or late 80's. The reason? Under the Parti Quebecois Bill 101 they would only allow them into the province if they changed their name to "Le Roi de Burger"...which the U.S. corporation declined to do. So I guess some might say the language laws benefited them that time

Jon Walker wrote:Anecdotally, there were no Burger Kings in Montreal until the mid or late 80's. The reason? Under the Parti Quebecois Bill 101 they would only allow them into the province if they changed their name to "Le Roi de Burger"...which the U.S. corporation declined to do. So I guess some might say the language laws benefited them that time

I want a faux BK tee shirt with "Le Roi de Burger" on it!! And who are this so-called Part Quebecois anyway? There can't be nearly enough great beer at this Parti.