The owner of Finn’s Seafood Chops and Cocktails restaurant on Wharf Street is “feeling sick” about the province’s decision to impose liquor rationing in government-owned stores as it reacts to job action at distribution warehouses.
David Cooper said Friday that the same level of rationing applies to a 12-seat cafe as to his 350-seat downtown restaurant.
“I just can’t for the life of me understand what they were thinking.”
He understands the need to impose restrictions to prevent runs on products but the way it was done shows “complete carelessness towards businesses. … It just makes me feel sick. I feel sick for nightclub owners.”
Finn’s is in its high season and the restaurant sector has been hard hit through the pandemic. “We are trying to make whatever money we can to get through the winter,” Cooper said.
The restaurant has enough inventory to get through the coming weekend, he said, anticipating the situation will become more challenging if it continues.
Many restaurants receive liquor orders one to two times per week.
The province has announced that no more than three of any individual item may be purchased per customer per day at B.C.-owned liquor stores. Beer purchases are exempt. This applies to both a business customer and an individual.
Four- and six-packs and other products in similar formats count as one product.
Limits came into effect after the B.C. General Employees’ Union began limited job action this week. Pickets have gone up around four liquor distribution warehouses. One is in Victoria.
The union is seeking wage increases and cost-of-living protection.
Shellie Gudgeon, who owns Il Terrazzo Ristorante with husband Mike, is in a better position than many, saying, “at this point, we have a large inventory.”
The restaurant’s 30-year anniversary is in November. Gudgeon is concerned for owners of newer restaurants, saying they don’t have extra cash to carry much of an inventory of liquor.
Jayme Beaudry, general manager of Zambri’s restaurant, moved quickly to stock up when the job action began. The restaurant, which serves Italian wine, is okay for at least two weeks.
She is hoping other restaurants stocked up too. “But if they didn’t have the chance to as of today, you’re basically out of luck because you can’t get by with three bottles of wine.”
Ian Tostenson, chief executive of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said restrictions “could not come at a worse time for our industry.” It has not yet recovered from the impact of the pandemic.
Along with a labour shortage facing the hospitality sector, the limits could cause some businesses to shut down temporarily, he said.
No one knows how long the job action at warehouses will last, he said.
He expects restaurants will shift to local products but said there is not an unlimited supply.
Under the new rules, which do not have an end date, restaurants can buy directly from B.C. wineries, craft distilleries and craft beer outlets.
“The whole thing is a mess,” Tostenson said. It’s a mess because of uncertainty for businesses, because the industry is not in a position to take this on financially or with the current labour situation. “The consequences are real.”
People in the sector are angry and scared, he said.
Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees, predicts some products will be sold out as early as this weekend due to rationing. His group represents private liquor stores, bars, pubs and retail cannabit outlets.
“Today we are asking both sides to get back to the table immediately and find a deal, because this is now impacting B.C.’s entire $1.5-billion liquor industry, thousands of small businesses and 200,000 workers that we employ,” he said at a press conference.
Private liquor stores are not planning to impose similar limits on purchases, he said.
Some retailers have seen limited “panic buying” because of job action and the rationing could make it worse.
Cannabis stores are also affected because their products come from provincial warehouses behind picket lines as well.
Kevin Marr, assistant manager Pineapple Express on Esquimalt Road, said regular weekly orders arrive on Wednesdays. “I can definitely see our stock is starting to dwindle a bit.”
Right now, “there are some very popular products that we are completely out of” while others are at lower inventory than usual. Pineapple Express has alternate products for customers, he said.
Rationing has not been imposed for cannabis sales.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: letters@timescolonist.com
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
