A new wine store may be coming to Central Lonsdale – a prospect that left at least one North Vancouver pub proprietor with sour grapes.
After ending its 28-year run at Park & Tilford in 2015, Liberty Wine Merchants is proposing to move their reds and whites into the Onni development at 1308 Lonsdale Ave. with an entrance on 13th Street.
Allowing Liberty to pop their corks just a hop, skip and jump away from Jack Lonsdale’s liquor store and pub – which is across the street on Lonsdale Avenue – would set a bad precedent, according to Sailor Hagar’s Brew Pub owner Brian Riedlinger, who spoke at council Monday.
“We would prefer that they find a location not within one kilometre of an existing liquor retail store,” he said.
A community can end up paying for increased policing as well as experiencing other ills stemming from a saturation of alcohol outlets, Riedlinger warned.
The two stores can coexist peacefully and profitably, argued Liberty Wine Merchants owner Robert Simpson.
Despite being situated within 150 feet of each other in Park & Tilford, both Liberty Wine Merchants and Rusty Gull’s liquor store prospered, according to Simpson.
“Our store in Park & Tilford had the closest proximity to a (liquor retail store) in the province,” he said. “We were both successful.”
While a liquor store’s customers might step in to buy a case of beer, Liberty’s customers were closer to connoisseurs seeking specialty wines, Simpson explained.
“We really sell collectors,” he said. “It’s like an antique store and Ikea. … They’re both in the home furnishing business but they provide very different services.”
Liberty would sell “wine and wine only,” Simpson stressed, adding there would be no beer, spirits, cigarettes or lottery tickets offered at the 13th Street location.
Riedlinger remained unconvinced. “We depend on our liquor store to keep our pub in business,” he said, explaining that B.C. pubs are increasingly being squeezed by “restaurants that act like bars.”
Because of its unique role as one of 11 wine-only shops in B.C., the new store would have “minimal impact” on Jack Lonsdale’s, according to city staff, who also cited a strong business case for the store given an increasing appetite for specialty wines.
Council voted 4-2 to consider granting final approval to the store later this month, with Coun. Pam Bookham and acting mayor Rod Clark casting the dissenting votes.
However, the proposal got a boost from Coun. Craig Keating, who said he had a “great deal of sympathy” for Liberty following Park & Tilford’s move to terminate the store’s tenancy in August 2015.
The 1,500-square-foot store would likely stay open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and as late as 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to Simpson.
Council could approve the wine store as early as May 30 – but the shop would still need to get the go-ahead from B.C.’s liquor control and licensing branch.
Mayor Darrell Mussatto did not attend the meeting.
