Frustrated local breweries are watching their sales dry up as a provincewide strike that has shuttered most Manitoba Liquor Marts enters its second week.
“(We) lost the biggest customer,” Sean Shoyoqubov, founder of Oxus Brewing Company in St. James, said Sunday, explaining that Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries makes up at least 60 per cent of Oxus’s beer sales.
An ongoing wage dispute between Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MLL) and about 1,400 striking members of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) has closed most Liquor Mart locations across the province.
“(We) lost the biggest customer,” Sean Shoyoqubov, founder of Oxus Brewing Company in St. James, said Sunday, explaining that Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries makes up at least 60 per cent of Oxus’s beer sales.
“>JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
“(We) lost the biggest customer,” Sean Shoyoqubov, founder of Oxus Brewing Company in St. James, said Sunday, explaining that Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries makes up at least 60 per cent of Oxus’s beer sales.
On Saturday and Sunday, just two Liquor Marts in Winnipeg were open.
And that has some local breweries worried their beer — and sales — will go down the drain.
Since MLL must approve new beer listings, Shoyoqubov said, Oxus has a 3,000-litre batch, equivalent to 6,000 cans, sitting in limbo.
The IPA’s application will remain pending while the strike continues, Shoyoqubov said.
“It is time sensitive. You have to release that (beer) at its peak,” he said. “Most probably, that beer will be a dumper… depending on when the strike ends.”
The beer in question has an overall retail value of $25,000, Shoyoqubov said.
The strike has also paused sales between Stone Angel Brewing Company and its largest buyer.
“It’s poor for business,” said Paul Clerkin, the brewery’s co-owner. “The liquor commission has enormous buying power.”
Stone Angel is also hit two-fold by the strikes: MLL isn’t ordering their beer, and it’s not completing the paperwork necessary for breweries to sell new products to private vendors and other customers, Clerkin said.
“We still have to pay rent and payroll,” Shoyoqubov from Oxus noted. “If (the strike) lasts for another month or two, there’s a good chance some breweries might be in big trouble.”
A majority of his sales — roughly 70 per cent — happen during the summer months, he said.
“Summer’s supposed to be the time to sell lots of beer. You hear the saying, ‘You have to make hay when the sun shines.’ The sun is shining, and nobody can make hay,”– Colin Koop, co-owner of Devil May Care Brewery
“Summer’s supposed to be the time to sell lots of beer,” said Colin Koop, co-owner of Devil May Care Brewery. “You hear the saying, ‘You have to make hay when the sun shines.’ The sun is shining, and nobody can make hay.”
His brewery isn’t affected: Devil May Care doesn’t currently sell in MLL outlets.
However, Koop and his partners had been considering selling in MLL’s Liquor Marts.
“Now that we’re looking at it, I’m not totally sure that I want to do that, in the short-term,” Koop said, adding he’d like to see “real stability” before taking the business step.
Meantime, private vendors inside Winnipeg and beyond are seeing more sales.
“It’s been busier on the hard liquor side,” Braden Hill said, referring to coolers and similar drinks sold at The Bottle Stop.
The employee has noticed an “uptick” in business.
Derek Brennan resorted to buying alcohol from an outlet in a nearby grocery store to keep the beer vendor and bar in Mountain Motor Inn stocked.
Buying liquor for the Stony Mountain company has become difficult; it orders through Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, Brennan said.
“I’ve run out of a few things, but I’ve still got a lot of the main stuff that I need,” he said.
He replenished right before the strike.
Things could change if the strike continues, he added — people are loading up at the beer vendor, and the nearby grocery store has “pretty bare” alcohol shelves.
Crestview and St. Vital had the only two open liquor marts in Winnipeg Sunday. The Crestview location was busy, but less so than its “crazy busy” counterpart early in the afternoon, a Crestview employee said on the phone.
The union representing striking MLL workers didn’t have an update on negotiations Sunday.
“As far as I know… the employer has not moved an inch since the strike began. We’re ready to go to work once we get a fair deal,”– Kyle Ross, president of the MGEU
“As far as I know… the employer has not moved an inch since the strike began,” said Kyle Ross, president of the MGEU. “We’re ready to go to work once we get a fair deal.”
Union members have been without a contract since March of 2022. They want raises in line with those obtained by Premier Heather Stefanson and her cabinet — 3.3 per cent in 2023, and 3.6 per cent in both 2024 and 2025.
MLL is offering a two-per-cent raise per year over four years, and raising the hourly starting wage $2.38 above the province’s minimum wage.
The current starting hourly wage for MLL workers is $14.91, increasing to $15.30 in October in line with the raise in minimum wage.
The last liquor-related dispute in Manitoba happened in October of 1978, when workers struck for seven weeks.
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries didn’t respond to requests for comment by print deadline. A reduced number of liquor marts are scheduled to open today. A full list, along with hours, are online at liquormarts.ca/hours.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
