Yellowknife liquor prices expected to drop

The N.W.T. Liquor Commission will go back to regulating alcohol prices in Yellowknife next September after competition failed to keep prices down.

When a second liquor store opened in Yellowknife in 2002, the liquor commission decided to let the city's stores set their own prices, with the idea that competition would keep prices in check.

Instead, Yellowknife now has some of the highest prices for alcoholic beverages in the territory.

CBC News did a price study focused on three items: 12 cans of beer, a 750 ml bottle of vodka, and a 750 ml bottle of white wine.

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It found the two stores in Yellowknife charged the highest prices for everything except the beer, where they had the third-highest prices. For example, a 750 ml bottle of Smirnoff vodka costs $5 more in Yellowknife than in Norman Wells, despite higher shipping costs to the Sahtu community, which lacks an all-season road.

Starting in September 2015, the liquor stores in Yellowknife will be run on the "consignment model," with the N.W.T. Liquor Commission setting the prices for the alcohol those stores sell.

"The two stores in Yellowknife are private right now. They own the liquor and they can charge whatever the market will bear. Whatever they think is fair," says Peter Maher with the N.W.T. Liquor Commission.

"With a consignment model, we own the liquor and we set the prices."

The owners of the two Yellowknife stores would then receive a commission each month based on their sales.

"The prices weren't comparable to any other N.W.T. locations," says Maher. "This way they will be comparable. We feel the consignment model provides the best value to the customer."

Maher says the new model will also allow the the Liquor Commission to collect data on the types and quantities of alcohol Yellowknife customers are buying. Both stores will be equipped with new computers containing software that will compile that data.

Maher says installing those computers is why the switch to the consignment model will take a year.

The owner of the Yellowknife Liquor Shop has refused to comment on the switch. The owner of the Yellowknife Liquor Store has not replied to multiple requests for a comment.