LIQUOR STORES NA LTD 4.70 PCT DEBS T.LIQ.DB.B

RE:RE:Info

[jimmytps]

In Alberta the rules only allow for up to one or two thousand cases to be allocated, all cases go through the goverment. So this means for their private label stuff they have to buy it all when it gets in to keep it private as possible (costco does this too). The liquor companies(Diageo, Molson,etc..) also do sales a few times a year, generally discounting between 8% and 20%. This means that if you don't bridge buy (from one sale period to another) you are at a serious disadvantage. We have costco/ superstore here selling products at 3-4 % above cost. With the oil crash, customers have become much more price conscience and have forced all prices down. If everyone is selling cheap, why would anyone pay you more. I felt the private labels have been helping Liquor stores margin and selection and is a good point of difference. Only Wine and Beyond (Hope this isnt one of the brands Point North wants to get rid of) carry 10,000 skus Only 2 of these stores in northern  Alberta and people love them (they have like a 1000 different beers!, something like 20 beers on tap (to fill growlers) a scotch tasting bar, pay for sit down tastings and education seminars. The Liquor depot stores carry much less, seems to depend on how well the stores do. If selection is important to a consumer it comes at the cost of inventory. Yes this still has to be balanced and I would like to see evidence that it isnt. I'm concerned about the board shrugging this off as well.
Better the devil you know, or the devil you don't.