Thrifty Foods’ Cloverdale store is one of seven new venues on Vancouver Island that could offer liquor sales in the near future.
Spokeswoman Keri Scobie confirmed the grocery chain has obtained a liquor licence, but there’s nothing set in stone when it comes to in-store liquor sales. ‘‘This is really just the start of the public process. While we have the licence, there is nothing for sure about the Cloverdale location or any other location at this point,” said Scobie, Sobeys communications manager for Western Canada.
The Cloverdale store at 3475 Quadra St. is one of seven Island spots listed as proposed store locations on the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch website.
The other Greater Victoria locations on the list are 2792 Peatt Rd. in Langford, a residential development with commercial space at grade, and 1913 Sooke Rd. at Colwood Corners.
There are also two proposed liquor store locations in Campbell River, one in Nanaimo and one in Nanoose Bay.
Last April, a Surrey Save-on-Foods location was the first B.C. grocery store to offer wine sales, after the province changed its liquor rules.
Save-on-Foods said it had no plans to expand that service to the Island any time soon.
Under rules that came into force last spring, grocery stores are able to sell B.C. wine from designated shelves. It can only be purchased at tills that have a Serving It Right certified cashier who is at least 19. Stores may also offer a store-within-a-store model, which allows grocery stores to offer a full suite of alcohol products.
To be eligible to sell via either model, a grocery store must be a minimum of 10,000 square feet and not be within one kilometre of another liquor store, among other restrictions. The only Thrifty Foods location that meets that criteria is the Cloverdale store.
Thrifty Foods has 19 locations on the Island and 26 in B.C. The company last year purchased The Local, a standalone licensed liquor store on Salt Spring Island.
