Brewers Retail Inc.
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Brewers Retail Inc. has a near-monopoly of domestic retail beer sales in Ontario. Its only competition is found in the beer sections of the LCBO stores, which also sell imported beer, and retail outlets at breweries. The company is owned by the Labatt arm of InBev of Belgium, Molson Coors of USA Inc., and Sleeman Breweries of Canada.
It has over 430 retail stores, operating as The Beer Store, which sell to the general public. It also has the exclusive right to sell domestic beer to Ontario bars and restaurants, of which more than 17,000 are licensed to sell alcohol.
The company began in 1927, with the end of prohibition in Ontario. The provincial government, trying to placate temperance advocates, wanted beer to be sold through a single network of stores, but did not want to operate this network itself. Brewers organized Brewers Warehousing Company Ltd., which later became Brewers Retail.
Brewers Retail sells over 90% of the beer sold in Ontario. Despite its near-monopoly, it charges breweries listing fees for each beer carried in stock; this practice has been criticized as restricting competition in the Ontario beer market. Brewers Retail is also politically controversial in the fact that the majority of its ownership is held by foreign brewers to the exclusion of any Canadian majority owned retailers. The Brewers Retail also has its monopoly threatened by the current review of Alcohol Laws in Ontario.
External link
- The Beer Store Corporate Website (http://www.thebeerstore.ca)
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