Atlin Trading Post to close at end of September
Atlin, B.C., grocer is community's only government-licensed liquor store
The Atlin Trading Post, a grocery and liquor store in northern B.C. near the Yukon border, will close for good at the end of the month.
James and Colleen Williams have anchored the town's food and liquor supply for almost 30 years. They have been trying unsuccessfully to sell the business for the past five years.
"Closing for good," James Williams says. "That's it. Time to retire."
That's not to say Williams won't miss working at the store.
"I'm going to miss the town, but I'm not moving. Still live two blocks down," he says. "But I'm going to miss the public. They've been great to me and hopefully I've returned a favour to them."
When the business closes later this month, Atlin residents will lose their only government-licensed liquor vendor.
"It (the licence) has got to go with the grocery store — at least that's what the government tells us," says Williams.
Atlin, a community of about 400 people, is not connected to the rest of British Columbia by road. When the Trading Post closes, the closest government liquor store will be in Whitehorse, a two-hour drive to the north, although liquor off-sales are available from the one hotel in town.
The community will still have one small grocery store, the Food Basket, although it too has been for sale for some time.
