Weyburn business fears odds stacked in booze lottery

Shannon Lindsay, who has owned Pumpjacks Saloon and Steakhouse in Weyburn for the last decade, says he has been trying to get his hands on a retail liquor store permit for almost five years.

Now, he’s worried that the permit will be permanently out of reach due to a government-run distribution process he believes is skewed in favour of large corporations with deep pockets.

“It’s going to be a pretty difficult thing,” Lindsay said of the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority’s new online auction system.

“It sort of sucks, because it’s going to be a pretty tough thing to, I think, get.”

This spring, SLGA unveiled a new population-based policy for allocating retail liquor store permits, which cover traditional liquor stores as well as off-sales. It uses a sliding scale to determine how many permits each community can receive, to a maximum of 40.

Under the new rules, there won’t be any new permits in Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Yorkton or North Battleford, but multiple smaller cities — including Weyburn — will be eligible for one additional retail store permit.

The new system also changes how those permits are allocated. Instead of a request for proposals, which was used for the last batch of private retail permits, the documents will now be assigned to the winner of a real-time online auction.

SLGA declined an interview request, but spokesman David Morris wrote in an email that the process will be efficient, user-friendly and allow “permits to be distributed in a transparent manner with relatively short timelines.”

“The bid process allows interested businesses and individuals the opportunity to determine the value of a permit and bid accordingly,” he wrote.

Lindsay, who would prefer a wide-open Alberta-style system or at least something that favours local businesses, is not thrilled about his chances in an auction, especially if one or more large chains decide they want the single Weyburn permit.

However, the head of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association said he is not convinced the new process will be a major issue, largely because most of the “golden tickets” in the province have already been snapped up.

If chains like Sobeys Inc. and Co-op, which have been opening new private liquor stores in the province for several years, wanted a permit in a specific community, they likely would have bought one from an established retailer by now, Jim Bence said.

The liquor retail business is not nearly as lucrative as some would expect, particularly in smaller communities where sales volumes are not conducive to discount pricing, he said.

Lindsay said he will happily compete with any other retailer when it comes to selling beer, wine and hard liquor. All he wants is a chance to do that — a chance he believes is not realistic under the new rules.