New NB Liquor boss doesn't foresee corner store beer, wine

The new head of NB Liquor doesn't expect to see beer and wine for sale in New Brunswick corner stores any time soon.

Brian Harriman has been on the job as the president and chief executive officer for about a month and has launched a review of the Crown corporation's retail strategy.

​Harriman says he'll look at the idea of sales in convenience stores, but he doesn't expect it to happen.

"Ultimately that decision isn't mine," he said. "That really belongs to the province if they wanted to privatize NB Liquor or a portion of it.

"But as part of my mandate to optimize profits for the province, we're certainly going to look at all options, different channels within the retail network that we could employ," said Harriman. "I'm not sure that I'd want to include corner stores but we'll look at all options that are available to us."

Harriman says he does think NB Liquor can bring in more revenue without having to raise prices.

"I think we can through product mix, I think we can through that, not necessarily all about price," he said.

"As we can help consumers learn and understand more about spirits, more about wine, and find ways to stabilize the beer category, and get a bigger product mix in the basket, there's probably a bigger opportunity to do it without necessarily driving price increases."

Harriman was hired in the first non-political, competitive process to fill the position of CEO of the Crown corporation.

He is originally from Miramichi and worked for the global liquor company Diageo for more than a decade, last serving as the Canadian vice-president of sales.

Diageo sells many well-known brands, including Guinness and Captain Morgan.