Friday marked the first day of legalized wine sales at dozens of grocery stores across Ontario, including several in our area.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced the 67 stores that had been granted licences to sell wine, which will also allow them to offer beer and cider.
Local stores now allowed to sell alcoholic drinks include:
- Farm Boy on Fairway Road South in Kitchener
- Food Basics on Clair Road West in Guelph
- Farm Boy on King George Road in Brantford
- Zehrs on Mitchell Road in Listowel
- Zehrs on Argyle Street in Caledonia
- Sobeys on Durham Street in Kincardine
- Rowland’s Your Independent Grocer on Goderich Street in Port Elgin
Not all of the stores were expected to start selling wine right away.
Fifty-seven grocery stores had already been allowed to sell beer and cider.
Like those stores, the ones now allowed to sell alcohol will have to abide by the same hours of sale as other licenced retailers, and have designated sales areas with employees specifically trained to sell alcohol.
There are also about 300 supermarkets in Ontario that were offering wine sales within their stores prior to Friday, although those outlets have separate checkout lanes.
Eventually, the province planes to make wine, beer and cider available in 300 supermarkets, with 150 more licenced only to sell beer and cider.
