We can now buy wine in (more) Hamilton grocery stores
Let me explain why this is such a big deal (to me)
Hold on to your hats, people.
Because you can now buy wine with your groceries in (more stores in) Hamilton, just like the Québécois have done for, um … ever.
Yes, we Hamiltonians have arrived. Finally. In an effort to buy our loyalty with booze, the Ontario government continued to roll out its plan to sell beer and wine in grocery stores, this summer. And based on media reports, Ontario.ca and my own eyes, three area stores (Fortinos on Main West and Rymal East and Starsky’s Fine Foods on Queenston) are now authorized to sell wine inside the store. Just as God intended.
Oh, I know what you’re going to say: “But Sheryl, we’ve been able to buy beer from a bunch of area grocery stores for ages now. And don’t many grocery stores already house separate wine kiosks? So what’s the big deal?”
OK, shut your mouths. All of you. This is A BIG DEAL. Why?
Because in the olden days, you would finally make it through the lineup at the cash, pay for your stuff and rush to put your wallet away while the person behind you tosses their squash and whatever on top of yours. (No amount of fast is fast enough for some people. Gawd.)
So you try to balance the grocery bags on your wrist, your shoulder, in your hand, for some reason ignoring the grocery cart directly in front of you. You struggle past another straggler when you catch sight of the wine kiosk. Right. You guzzled your last drop of red last night and you’ve got raw chicken and frozen yogurt in your grocery bags, so a stop at the LCBO is out.
So you make it over to the wine kiosk, peruse the three brands they sell, put down your bags, shove the grocery receipt the cashier always hands you at the worst moment into your pocket, buy whatever bottle is closest to the cash. You then spend five minutes trying to shove the bottle into one of your bigger bags without crushing the grapes or the bread, hoist one of the bags onto your shoulder, then the other, then grab the third while the second bag slips to the crook of your elbow. And, carrying the weight of the world, you move as quickly as possible to your car, hoping you won’t drop anything.
BUT NOW, you stroll into the grocery store, are captivated by the sight of four bright rows of booze, including many brands of wine that feature colourful cartoons on the label. You select the wine with the cheekiest name and best cartoon, and delight in perusing the many alcoholic offerings you can now purchase at the same time as your groceries.
Oh yeah … the groceries. What did you need again? Pretty sure that chocolate chip banana cake with the cream cheese icing was on that list. The rest must’ve been unimportant. So you grab the cake and your wine, skip up to an express lane cashier, pay for both at the same time and leave carrying one light bag. See the difference? It was a late August evening when my life changed for the better. The day I stepped inside Fortinos on Main West intending to buy … I really can’t remember. But I walked out with a bottle of red called The Long Weekend because, y’know, it was almost the long weekend.
I excitedly texted a bunch of people to share the news, that Fortinos on Main West was one of The Chosen. And one party pooper informed me that the Fortinos on Rymal East had been selling wine inside the store for some time. Like it was nothing. Like it wasn’t a game changer. Like a person who lives in Dundas and works in the west end ever has occasion to grocery shop on Stoney Creek Mountain. This was A BIG DEAL (to me).
But the Liberals REALLY want us to like them. They must. Because they’ve posted an interactive map of the Ontario grocery stores authorized to sell beer, cider and wine, so that we don’t miss out. Sadly, this map indicates that the Fortinos on Rymal in Stoney Creek is the only store in Hamilton authorized to sell wine, which is obviously not accurate. So it’s not updated. Which means there might be more that we don’t know about.
Which brings me to my point. Let’s get a list going of local grocery stores that sell wine inside the store. If you know of one that I haven’t listed, please send it along as a public service. And may this cheery news help you with the transition to fall.