This bit of "news" has since been repeated elsewhere, including Ian Bowering's column in the Great Lakes Brewing News.
The state of the Globe and Mail's fact-checking being what it is, I did my own research which involved going directly to the source and I received this reply from the customer service department of The Beer Store: "Thank you for your recent email to The Beer Store's Customer Service Department. The only Beer Store locations that do not accept empties are our Beer Boutiques located in the Distillery District and Liberty Village as they are not equipped for them. All other locations will accept empties from any customer."
A bit more digging reveals a description of The Beer Store's "Boutique Store format in urban centers where the beer is displayed in smaller pack sizes with increased beer education and tastings. No bottle returns."
Not precisely the impression Mr. Doyle was aiming for, one supposes.
I fail to see what your problem is. I was correct - there are now Beer Stores in Liberty Village and the Distillery district (precisely "located where condos for rich young things have mushroomed") that refuse to accept empties.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for me is the motive attributed to the creation of the “boutique” stores. I think it’s unfair to accuse TBS of hate when from the outset they have made it clear that what they are doing is making an attempt to lure fussy beer nerds like me away from the LCBO.
ReplyDeleteAs the name suggests, the boutique stores are smaller. In the Toronto Star, Josh Rubin reports that they are about half the size of a traditional Beer Store. The Torontoist elaborates, “because of the store’s small size, it will not accept empty bottles.” In other words, they were never designed to do so. Their focus is elsewhere and as such no space was allotted for it. It scarcely sounds like class warfare to me. Instead of trying to exclude anyone I think they were hoping to include people like me.
Like many beer nerds, I will travel to buy beer. As a result I have not returned more than a couple of bottles smaller than a growler to the location at which they were purchased since the 1990s. For locals (including condo-dwellers, I would presume), a response to an e-mail to TBS reveals no fewer than four traditional stores nearby that will accept empties.
I was going to go on about the beer boutiques at some length at one time, hence the citations, but I was non-plussed to the point that I didn’t bother. Then I learned that, as I write this, the only Beer Stores where I can buy Muskoka’s Twice As Mad Tom (which I presume to be a “hopped”-up version of Mad Tom) are the boutique stores.
I cannot let the opportunity pass to express how I am flattered to receive the attention of a celebrity and I shall do my utmost to overlook the possibility that it might have been a matter of “self-Googling”. I thank you for your interest and concern.