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By Dylana Kneeshaw

LIQUOR STORE SALES

Provincial liquor sales uptick felt by Kamloops retailers

Apr 1, 2020 | 4:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — Since COVID-19 entered pandemic status, liquor stores in the Kamloops area have seen a change in how they need to operate, and how much product they’ve had leaving the shelves.

Before liquor stores were listed as an essential service in B.C., local retailers say they heard customer concerns about closures. Now, they figure a portion of the sales uptick stems from people buying more than normal to eliminate further outings.

At the St. Paul Liquor Store in downtown Kamloops, manager Sahil Joshi says they’ve definitely seen an increase in business lately.

“I’m receiving almost 100 more customers every single day,” he says. “Like usually it’d be about 300, now it’s closer to 400.”

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While up the hill at the Fox’n Hounds Sahali Liquor Store, owner Al Deacon says they’ve seen about a 20 per cent bump in customer sales.

“Two weeks ago, there were hoarders. People were coming in and stockpiling. Now, it’s a little bit busier than normal,” Deacon notes. “People are coming off self quarantining or self isolation and they want to re-stock their shelves. So it’s been really super busy for us, absolutely.”

BC Liquor Distribution Branch spokesperson Viviana Zanocco says with a 40 per cent increase in counter / walk-in sales, BC Liquor Stores have found that customers are mirroring some of the buying styles seen in grocery stores.

“They’re looking for high volume items,” she says. “So cask wine sales are up 144 per cent over the month, sales of spirits sold in larger containers like 1.75L, they’re up 153 per cent, and beer, which has trending down over the past couple of years is actually up and sales of beer in 24 packs is up by 120 per cent.”

Despite the boost in demand, so far Zanocco says the liquor industry in British Columbia hasn’t seen issues with the supply chain.

“When we’ve had empty shelves, it’s just a matter of our employees not having a chance to pull it out from the back and put it back on the shelf,” she explains. “So for us, the supply chain has been very well maintained, and we don’t see that changing.”

The cleaning protocols, and customer occupancy levels have been overhauled for every liquor store in the province, and retailers in Kamloops are no different.

Most stores now only allow five customers in at one time. Alongside this, Deacon says their store is no longer accepting empty containers for recycling returns, and a number of extra sanitizing measures have been taken to protect employees and customers.

“We put the hand sanitizer at the entrance, and encourage our customers to sanitize upon entry. And that was installed two weeks ago,” says Deacon. “We’ve put up the plexiglass shields for our cashier and the consumer, to have that barrier between them. So we’re doing all the things that we’re asked to do by Health Canada in order to help.”

It’s a busy time for liquor sales in B.C right now, but Joshi notes that overall, customers have been behaving within health authority recommendations.

“People are more concerned about their safety. They are making the social distance space by themselves so we don’t have to tell them anything,” he says. “And yeah, some (customers) come in and ask us if we’re sanitizing our handles and everything, and yes, obviously we do.”