‘There will be no independent BC wine stores anymore’: owner selling license to grocery chain

WHITE ROCK (NEWS 1130) – Have you picked up a bottle of merlot with your meat and veggies yet?

Many shopper like the convenience. But as we see local wine available in more grocery stores, the owner of one small shop says we are also watching the death of the independent BC wine seller.

“It’s a sad time for the independent wine store and the BC wine lover,” says Jeff Wong, who says he is shutting down the White Rock location of Swirl tomorrow because of pressure from a nearby Save-On-Foods.

He says his sales dropped 30 per cent when the grocery store started selling BC wine and after he chose to let the license go, it was quickly snapped up.

“Overwaitea Food Group has bought my license. They bought Sip Wines‘ license, they bought Kensington Square‘s license, they bought BC Wineguys‘ license on the Island, too. In the next two or three months they will own 16 licenses,” he tells NEWS 1130.

Swirl, which specializes in BC vintages, also has a Yaletown location in Vancouver and Wong says he will now focus on preserving that business.

Wong says he’s been fighting hard to stay afloat, but he claims the BC Wine Institute — which administers the licenses for BC wine stores — seems to favour grocery store sales and he feels the pressure is killing the independent owners.

He believes that is bad for consumers, who will ultimately see a smaller selection of local vino because many wineries can’t be found in grocery aisles.

“We support a lot of small to medium wineries and we sell a fair amount of their wines. We sell a lot of the premium BC wine selection and I don’t know if Ovewaitea can do that. I hope they can because otherwise — in my opinion — it will be the death of the BC wine industry.”

Wong has been fighting for one kilometre buffer zone around independent BC wine stores and says many owners would also like to be able to sell local craft beer and cider to remain competitive.