The Beer Store – Church and Wellesley

If Kong Jong Un decided to design a beer store in Saudi Arabia, they might have come up with something that looks like the beer store. You walk into what looks like an industrial warehouse, immediately greeted by the smell of stale beer and homeless people. No product is displayed… instead there is a beer list on the wall, organized in no particular order with no information about any of the products. A conveyor mechanism is used to return empties and procure purchases.
This business was clearly designed to discourage the consumption of beer; however, there are not exactly many alternatives. I’ll rant about the business as a whole in a minute. This particular location is one of the worst. It always smells abominable and is filled with homeless people returning empties. The staff are at best surly. Save yourself this experience and shop at one of there newer stores if you must, or buy some actual craft beer at the LCBO.
The Beer Store itself is a private monopoly run by 3 foreign corporations:
Sleemans which owned by the Japanese Sapporo,
Molsons which is owned by the American Coors,
Labatt, which is owned by the Belgian InBev.
These 3 foreign companies dictate which beers will be sold to Canadian consumers, demand they pay «listing» fees, charge bars outrageous prices even higher than what consumers pay, and promote their own products over competitors. Sad.