Major players among grocery stores approved to sell wine

We’re less than two months from seeing wine for sale on the shelves of Ontario grocery stores.

On Oct. 28, as many as 70 stores across the province will be able to legally stock and sell wine.

Friday, the province released a list of supermarket operators that had won licences to be among those 70 stores through a bidding process.

They include industry leaders Walmart, Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro, as well as a number of smaller players including Farm Boy and a number of companies concentrated around the Greater Toronto Area.

It is not yet known which individual stores in those chains will be offering wine for sale.

According to the province, wine sales will eventually be expanded to 300 grocery stores.

Since some Ontario grocery stores were first allowed to sell beer last December, an estimated $24 million worth of beer has been purchased by those stores.