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Wine Stores In Canada - Printable Version

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- Shelley - 05-22-2002

My Husband Michael & I are wanting to open a Wine Store in B.C. Canada! We are looking for franchise opportunities??? Does any one have any leads or info for us!?!
Thanks,
Shelley & Michael


- Innkeeper - 05-23-2002

Hi Shelley & Michael, and welcome to the Wine Board. We have a handful of wine store owner/operators around here, but they are not likely to visit this thread. It is for technical problems with this site, rather than wine or wine business advice. Recommend you move it to the Favorite Wine Stores thread, and you should get some good advice there.


- Innkeeper - 05-24-2002

Well, now that we've got you down here in an openable mode, let's get going. Never ran a wine store, but had supervisory responsibility for twenty five package stores selling all kinds of wines and spirits.

The first thing after market research, to include niching, is to learn all the rules and regulations, including all costs. Many costs can be hidden until you get your first bill. For example in my town businesses pay a premium on sewer fees based on water consumption. This is based on chairs in a restaurant or number of employees in a straight retail operation.

We have archaic national and state laws regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages here in the U.S. Guess what, so do you. Particularly at the provincial level. Learn all you can about these before you open the door. You may find that you will not be able to sell some of things you wanted to because of impossible regulations regarding importation and distribution. Each province is different, but the way I understand most operate, if it is not distributed in the province, you can't get it, unless the wine in question is made in the province. You have many excellent wineries in B.C.

Perhaps if you buy into a franchise, a lot of this will be taken care of for you. Hopefully, someone will happen by here who can give some tips on that. There are franchise wine stores in California, and elsewhere in the Western U.S., but don't know of any that operate in Canada.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 05-24-2002).]