Long lines and empty shelves: Manitoba businesses struggle with liquor supplies as strike continues
'A lot of people like me are just grabbing what they can and making it work': Hecla store owner
Tracy Giesbrecht faced a long lineup when she pulled up at the Winnipeg Liquor Mart location designated for commercial licensees to purchase stock — even though it was 10 minutes before the store was open.
It took her about 40 minutes to get into the store on Regent Avenue, which is open from noon to 5 p.m. but closed to the general public — it's restricted to commercial licensees buying inventory as a provincewide Liquor Mart workers strike continues.
The situation inside was bleak, said Giesbrecht, who runs the Sarto General Store, about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg, and was buying stock for her store's Liquor Mart outlet.
"Empty. Very empty. The shelves are very slim."
As though scripted, that identical description was given by every person who spoke to CBC News outside the Regent store on Friday.
"A lot of people like me are just grabbing what they can and making it work," said Keye Dziad, who owns Hecla Island General Store and the liquor outlet inside, about 130 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
The provincewide strike by unionized Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries workers is now in its second week, although limited job action, including day-long strikes and walkouts, started nearly a month ago.
In addition to closing most Liquor Mart locations, it's also affected the Liquor & Lotteries distribution centre on King Edward Street in Winnipeg, which means no deliveries to places like Hecla Island or Sarto.
"I can't allot all my time just to … [get] liquor," said Dziad. "It's a small part of the business but it's really taking up a large chunk of my time now."
He faces a four-hour round trip, plus the cost of gas, at least once a week to stock up, he said.
"For us, this is our peak season. We only have three months to make money, really, and any sort of hit that we have … affects the bottom line."
Still, Dziad said he sides with the union in the dispute, and hopes it's resolved with the workers getting a fair raise.
Giesbrecht's store in Sarto is so busy she needs to make daily trips into Winnipeg to restock the liquor supplies.
"As fast as we can put it on the shelves is as fast as it leaves. It's a struggle," she said.
The Liquor Mart in the city of Steinbach, about 15 kilometres from Sarto, is closed due to the strike so Giesbrecht is getting all of that traffic, as well as people from as far as Winnipeg.
There are also large orders for weddings and socials, she said.
"So sales are good, but we're a very small store. We don't have a lot of staff, so we're getting a little tired."
She picked up as much as she could Friday in an effort to get through the weekend, but said the inventory won't last that long.
There is a purchase limit of two full cases per product at the Regent store, so everyone is filling boxes with "whatever else you can get off the shelves," Giesbrecht said.
'Hard on us little guys'
Jody Donnelly, the manager for Langside Grocery — a bar and restaurant in Winnipeg — said the lack of liquor supplies has meant an adjustment to other parts of the business.
"You're trying to figure out what kind of sacrifices you can make or how you can change your menu, and stuff like that. It's been an interesting experience," she said.
"A lot of the things that are left [at the Liquor Mart] are the flavoured spirits that restaurants aren't necessarily using as frequently. Shelves are absolutely empty. It's been really challenging."
She commended the staff who are scrambling inside the Liquor Mart to help the frantic business owners.
"They're doing the best that they can in there … but it's pretty scary."
Donnelly wondered why Liquor & Lotteries doesn't offer businesses the option to place advance orders online for pickup. That would give the store more time to pack the orders and make the lineups more palatable, she said.
"Lots of people are coming in from out of town and buying as many cases as they possibly can. It's kind of hard on us little guys," she said.
Donnelly said she'll keep making regular trips to the Regent store — and facing those lineups — for specialty items she needs, in the hope they arrive on one of the pallets that day.
She also noted that during COVID-19 lockdowns, the provincial government was quick to deem liquor stores an essential service to keep them open.
"I'm kind of wondering — where that fight is now?"
Liquor & Lotteries and the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents the 1,400 striking workers, were scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Friday.
Under current labour laws, parties involved in a labour dispute can apply for binding arbitration if a strike or lockout continues for 60 days.
That means both parties will be made to enter arbitration if they don't reach a deal by Sept. 17, the president and CEO of Liquor & Lotteries said Wednesday.
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With files from Jim Agapito