Buy alcohol in Kelowna April 1st?

[I am Canadian]

With the new regulations taking place in a week from now, has anyone heard of any grocery / corner store selling wine or beer in Kelowna starting April 1st?

[slootman]

With the new regulations taking place in a week from now, has anyone heard of any grocery / corner store selling wine or beer in Kelowna starting April 1st?

This sounds like a setup for a very cruel April fools joke... :)

[mexi cali]

Don't know about grocery stores but the likker store in West K is rearranging in advance of Sunday openings and I think coolers.

[Hurtlander]

Selling liquor in grocery stores is actually a sick joke the government is pulling on us. Grocery stores will be able to sell liquor after April 1st only if there isn't already a liquor outlet either public or private within one kilometre of the grocery store. If there is a liquor outlet within one kilometre the grocery store can buy out or partner with the liquor outlet, but usually in the larger urban centres there are several liquor outlets within the one kilometre radius of the grocery store...

[NotNorthAnymore]

Most small towns like Lumby are not going to see the grocery stores sell liquor either.
The LB shares a wall with the grocery store and the cold beer store is directly across the street.

Up north in Mackenzie - the same sort of thing - the LB and the cold beer store are in the same building/mall.
Less than 250 meters between them.

From what I see in Prince George, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Vernon and Kelowna the same thing - there is not a grocery store that will qualify with the 1k rule.

Lots of smoke and mirrors on this one..

[Joe Public]

Selling liquor in grocery stores is actually a sick joke the government is pulling on us. Grocery stores will be able to sell liquor after April 1st only if there isn't already a liquor outlet either public or private within one kilometre of the grocery store. If there is a liquor outlet within one kilometre the grocery store can buy out or partner with the liquor outlet, but usually in the larger urban centres there are several liquor outlets within the one kilometre radius of the grocery store...

Hence the reason for the new rules. The Private Liquor Store Association has donated millions to the BC Liberal Party, and the ability to sell their licenses to the highest corporate bidder is the payback for those political donations. Some are estimating that their licenses may be worth 20 times what they were worth a year ago; a good ROI.

The entire public consultation process was a sham designed to reach this predetermined goal of financial payback for political donations. It's how the BC Liberals operate.

[questionablecontext]

Rules, rules, rules.

To me it seems like they should have just left this issue alone until they come up with a better solution to all this.

This is just my very quick 2 cents because honestly I'm kinda done rehashing how I feel. This I will relate anecdotally my own personal experience. I am a 27 year old man who traveled the world for the last 6 months. I have done my fair share of socializing, partying, drinking, throughout my 20's. I consider myself a responsible drinker who has also blurred the lines. I never touched a drop until I was 20.... While traveling I was able to not only purchase all kinds of booze from your typical 7-11 or other convenience store in almost all countries I went to, but freely enjoy that beverage publicly without the need to conceal. I was also able to purchase a cold pint at a coffee shop. I could get a beer at the movie theatre! (Not to mention bring an entire pizza in for me and the gang). Generally speaking, a cafe isn't exclusive to coffee. And pubs aren't exclusive to kegs of beer. Cafes are usually more of a bar setting, not like you would see here. Typically these places were split between coffee drinkers and old boys having an afternoon pint exchanging stories with their friends. Pubs always had a nice espresso machine on display behind the bar. I also couldn't help but notice that outside of major tourist spots I never found cases of blatant intoxication that we seem to find here in North America. The drunks that I met, especially in Asia, were not only inconspicuous (not something I can say about the drunks here), but more than friendly and respectful. I can't say the same walking down Bernard or Lawrence on a Friday night. I say North America because I see the same problems in the US as well. Here we are, a society that can go to war for our country, yet can't have a drink (BC, USA). So what do the kids do? They get big brother to go out and buy us a bottle of Vodka because we figure this is a good place to start. Well, no, it's not really because you drink 5 shots and you're gonzo. Drinking underage is almost taboo here, yet the drinking age in most other places in the world such as Europe is as low as 16. It is ingrained in their culture and seemingly these kids witness their parents responsibly enjoying a glass with lunch and realize there's no big deal about it. And because you have the capacity to easily obtain a liquor license most places do indeed have one. There's no need to hide it in their friends basement on a Friday night, or go to the park with water bottles mixed 50/50. It's the same as smoking pot. The way I see it, as soon as you make something illegal the appeal increases. You tell someone they can't do something and their natural instinct is to do it. Again, just speaking for myself, but I do strongly think that point is true. What ends up happening is the birth of our binge drinking culture. Sure! I went to a beerhaus in Germany and had too many steins with the old boys. We all have a few too many, sometimes. My point is that I think we can all agree that prohibition gets us nowhere. I'm excited for the future, and while I do give it up to the government for finally moving somewhat on this subject, it is in my opinion a much more complex issue and having these micro-managed rules seem silly.

[westbankkid]

Watching the news tonight about a Save On Foods in Vancouver being the first grocery store to sell liquor.

Guess what the people were buying? Okanagan wines. Sounds like a win for the Okanagan wineries.

[V-Rated]

I think something changed in taxes, and it is probably all over the news, but just haven't seen it.
I have been invited out to a couple dinners this weekend, (b/friend is working) so I thought I will grab the customary bottle of wine. The one I wanted to buy was surprisingly on sale, and for a pretty good price to what I was used to paying. Paid and off I went. Once I got home, I looked at the receipt and noticed the sale price, the deposit... but from the sale price there was a extra added on... What the heck??? Ahhhh taxes. I also bought a 40 pounder of Forty Creek.... here is the price difference... 34.29 price... then 39.43 including taxes...
Now I don't always look at the receipts, so this must be something new. I liked it before when tax was included in the price.

~V~

[Hurtlander]

Watching the news tonight about a Save On Foods in Vancouver being the first grocery store to sell liquor.

Guess what the people were buying? Okanagan wines. Sounds like a win for the Okanagan wineries.

The problem is, one that'll ultimately be proven down the road to illegal, is the fact that only BC wine is allowed to be sold in grocery stores, this flies in the face of the BC liberals claiming to be supporters of free enterprise capitalism, if anything it's socialism at its finest...I'm completely in favour of purchasing alcohol in grocery stores, but I'll be damned if I want the government dictating what my choices are....

[FreeRights]

That's why you're free to go to a private liquor store to purchase your alcohol.

[JLives]

Are any stores in Kelowna selling alcohol or are they all too close to liquor/beer stores already?

[Dizzy1]

That's why you're free to go to a private liquor store to purchase your alcohol.

By restricting where one can buy it and who can sell it and which products can be sold by who - ah yes, "freedom".

[I am Canadian]

The new regurgitation is ridiculous. In other provinces where grocery stores can sell booze, beer stores are called corner stores.

I thought the BC Liberals were pro free market & enterprise. not.

[FreeRights]

By restricting where one can buy it and who can sell it and which products can be sold by who - ah yes, "freedom".

Private liquor stores "restrict" what brands they carry, too.

I think there are a lot better "dur taking our freedoms!" arguments out there than having to go to a liquor store - you know, like you do right now and have done for many years - because a grocery store doesn't carry your preferred source of booze.