SAQ closes some locations, adjusts hours to align with changing customer habits
Customers may be consuming less, but opting for higher-cost products, says expert
Quebec's liquor board says it is adjusting the opening hours of 251 branch locations and closing a few others to better align with customer habits.
At the same time, a new location is opening in the Eastern Townships.
Linda Bouchard, a spokesperson for the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), explained in an email that these adaptive schedule changes are a "sound management practice" and not part of a systematic reduction in hours.
These new measures will come into effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year, in April.
Meanwhile, the SAQ plans to cease operations at the Rivière-Bleue and downtown Chicoutimi branches in Saguenay, Que., which are experiencing a decline in customer traffic, she said.
Another location in Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore, will close, merging with another location that shares the same customer base, she said.
"These decisions entail no job losses," Bouchard said.
She said each point of sale is evaluated year after year to ensure each branch continues to meet customers' expectations.
"Through this analysis, we have identified a need to fill in Sherbrooke, in a developing area," Bouchard said. "We will therefore be opening a new branch there this year."
For the second quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year, the SAQ reported a slight overall increase in net income of 0.4 per cent ($337.8 million), but a continued decline for in-store sales — a 2.8 per cent drop.
'Quality over quantity'
Pascal Thériault, director of McGill's farm management and technology program, said if SAQ branches cannot sell enough to cover operating costs, then decisions need to be made.
That decline in sales may be a reflection of people's change in habits, he said.
"We see a trend where people drink less, and I think it's all part of a more healthy lifestyle we're trying to get into right now," Thériault said. "We make better decisions."
While people are reducing how much they consume, that may mean they will shift toward higher quality, higher-cost products when they do drink, he said.
"So quality over quantity," he said. "That might have an impact on sales because that means lower sales of high-volume, cheaper products and better sales of better-quality products."
Data gathered by Quebec's public health institute shows younger Quebecers aren't binge drinking like they used to.
"They will engage less in excessive consumption," said Jacinthe Brisson, a scientific advisor with the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).
While consumer habits may be changing and the SAQ says staff won't lose their jobs, Élise Lallement, secretary general for the employees' union, said these decisions do affect workers.
Staff will have to consider the travel time to new locations, especially in the regions, and changing hours can be costly to some workers, she said.
"Those choices are always made at the expense of the staff working those hours," Lallement said. "I don't think it's the way I would have managed the situation."
Written by Isaac Olson with files from Mélissa François