Richmond MLA JohnYap raised the curtain and a glass Wednesday to the first-ever sale of wine in a grocery store in B.C.
Yap — the parliamentary secretary for liquor policy reform — and B.C. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton officially opened a new B.C. wine section in Save-On Foods in South Surrey.
Another 40 applicants, hoping to relocate their liquor licenses in grocery stores, will find out next week where they sit in the pecking order after a lottery process.
However, having no idea if any of those applicants are from Richmond, Yap was unable to give Richmondites a clue as to when they might be able to buy a bottle of wine and a box of cereal in the same shopping trip.
“It’s hard to say (when one will open in Richmond),” said Yap.
“This is the first wave of applicants requesting relocations and it’s basically up to the individual businesses if they want to apply.”
Yap said it will be up to the businesses concerned if they want to publicize where they are moving to when the result of the license lottery comes out. Where each applicant finishes in the lottery will determine the choice of locations they have.
Yap said the sale of alcohol in grocery stores was the single most popular request from the public during the liquor review last year.
“I would say about 80 per cent of requests were for more convenience in being able to buy their wine,” added Yap.
Further changes to B.C. liquor laws on Wednesday included extended hours and days of operation for government liquor stores and a wholesale pricing scheme for alcohol, meaning such stores no longer have tax included on the shelf price.
