We’re slowly, inexorably, moving towards a sensible system of buying
wine, beer and spirits in Canada, where consumers can go online—or
use a phone, if they are dinosaurs—and order a case from anywhere in
the world to be delivered to their doorsteps.
And why not? Why should booze be any different than books and music?
It is ridiculous that restaurants or consumers cannot buy cases of wine
directly from a BC or Ontario (or wherever) winery, like they can from
local wineries, or a different province’s liquor store. There is no
logical reason why this sort of commerce should be restricted, as long
as taxes and shipping are paid. It is a really dumb situation that
simply needs to be fixed.
The heavy-handed restrictions on buying alcohol date back to
prohibition, but those controls have been relaxed recently, with full
privatization of booze sales in Alberta, and partial privatization in
other western provinces. Quebec and Newfoundland allow certain items to
be sold in groceries and gas stations. In the last while, we’ve seen
the advent of “agency stores” throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,
which are privately run but still government stores. The most radical
development down east has been the four private store licenses granted
in Halifax. Wine lovers in the other Atlantic Provinces are
understandably jealous, and want their own private liquor sales.
Halifax’s private stores have several advantages over the NSLC: the
ability to sell specially selected products not sold at the NSLC, a
more wine- and beer-savvy staff (Bishop’s Cellar sports two certified
sommeliers), the ability to spontaneously put products on sale and free
direct shipping.
I’m not suggesting the NSLC can’t do all those things; but
doing so doesn’t fit NSLC’s business case, I guess. The liquor
corporation does, however, offer free movement of any product you want
from any store to the closest store to you. Of course this service is
built into their overall profit system, so you pay indirectly, but
still, it is a nice service.
Direct-to-consumer shipping is completely legal. The NSLC actually
does do it, but only through their gift program—you can send a boxed
gift from the NSLC via Canada Post, but you pay a pretty penny: an
approximately $7 shipping/handling/boxing charge for a bottle of
wine.
Compare that to Cristall & Luckett, the private store in
Bedford, which offers free shipping anywhere in mainland Nova Scotia
for a minimum order of $150. “We also ship to Cape Breton at attractive
rates,” explains Todd Cristall. “Ordering is simple via our web site;
we usually have it there in one to two business days.”
The deliver is made either by courier or by C&L’s van.
It is easy to spend $150 on wine—that’s only six bottles of $25
juice—but if you buy less than that, the delivery cost is a very fair
$15 flat. Again, this is built into the overall balanced budget of the
business, but free shipping sure feels nice.
Getting a case of vino delivered to your porch may remind you of the
time you bought a two-four from a cabbie, because you were being
responsible and didn’t want to drink and drive. Not so fast. This is
all legit and not quite so real-time. The practice takes two or three
days. If you are worried about your kid ordering booze online…don’t.
Someone with proper ID must sign for booze delivery. This is the
law.
Buying booze to be delivered to your door in your own province is
just a small step in the commonsensification of the Canadian liquor
business. Could free trade between provinces be next?
Spirit delivery services
NSLC
thenslc.com 800-380-7449
Shipping for gifts, for a fee.
Cristall & Luckett
cristallandluckett.com 888-531-9993
Direct shipping, free for over $150 orders to mainland Nova Scotia.
Bishop’s Cellar
bishopscellar.com 490-2675
Free delivery to
licensees in metro Halifax, and delivers for a fee outside the area.
Vinart
vinart.ca, 482-9463
Free delivery to licensees with a minimum one case order.</p
Premier Wine & Spirits
premierwineandspirits.ca, 435-6945
Members of the wine club can have wine delivered to their door monthly.
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.
So I started reading this article, and after I finished reading the second paragraph, I decided to scroll down to the bottom and see if the author actually listed any websites to order from.
All that’s listed is local stores around HRM. Why would I want to pay for someone to dilver something to me when I can just walk 5 mins to get it. (There’s practically an NSLC store everywhere).
I visited the other locations and their product isn’t much better. They might carry something NSLC doesn’t but they’re over-priced for what they’re selling and not necessarily the greatest taste.
I don’t see the point of this article if this is what it only offers.
Taxi drivers have been providing this service for years. All hours too. Like, say you run out of beers at a party at 3am? No problem…
Yeah, I’ve used Vin Arts service a few times, and it came by cab… used to be pretty good when they carried Red Cap, and I was craving beer from a stubby.
You have to understand that Pinhey is an advocate for privatization. So anything NSLC = bad and anything private store = good. I aqree with Randomness, my experience with the private stores leads me to conclude that they are overpriced and have generally inferior product given the price asked.
Private stores may be overpriced and have generally inferior product – because we live in a province with quasi-prohibition where there is a minimum price set by the government for all alcoholic products. They can’t legally compete.
The minimum price is at the low end. The private stores don’t even sell anything at that end of the market. I am talking about paying $20 for a wine that might be worth $15. I’ve got nothing against the private stores; I just don’t think they have a very compelling offering, that’s all.
The Johnny Walker Green has been discontinued so awhile ago I asked if I could have a bottle of it brought from one of the less than local stores to my local NSLC for purchase, the answer was ‘no we don’t do that’. I bet a private company would. Talking about scotch and overpricing, do a cost comparison of NB Liquor prices with that of NS. In some cases NB prices match the duty free prices. Arg!
In regards to beer, the private stores have a vastly superior selection compared to NSLC locations. Off the scale. The price is what it is. You get what you pay for. You want garbage, John Labatt’s Blue is easy to find. You want quality, go down to Premier and grab some Rogue. The choice is yours. But don’t complain about the price of steak when you think McDonald’s is tasty.
Don’t drink beer, so I can’t comment. Actually it makes some sense that the private places would do that product well for the handful of people who are in the market for it. Easy to do for one store, not so for a whole province full of stores, and it is a pretty small segment I would guess.
Cranky, I thought that they would do that transfer for you. They have for me. But I make a road trip to NB every now and then for scotch too. They have the best prices in the country for that stuff, though their JW Green isn’t that much cheaper ($5 or so).
It would have been nice to read a brief history of alcohol sales in NS. Its kinda like reading about people bitching about how shitty the lane across the bridge is from people who never had to get across before there was a bike lane. It certainly puts it in perspective. Not that we should expect lesser service on the logic that what we used to have is worst than the current situation but just sayin’
No, the JW Green price difference is not worth mentioning. Recently there have been some price changes in NS so my cost comparison is a little out of date. Last year I think I was getting 15yo Glenfiddich for 15-20 bucks less in NB. Not that I’d buy it, but JW Blue is $198 here vs 168 in NB. I don’t make special trips to buy scotch, but when I know I’m going through I have a look at what I’m low in and if the price difference is great enough I’ll stop the NB store.