Business operations winding down for SLGA stores
Business operations are winding down at Saskatchewan government liquor stores as the remaining 34 locations will close their doors in the new year.
Some prices have been slashed by nearly 50 per cent as the government begins clearing the shelves.
Lori Carr, minister in charge of SLGA said the stores are going to start closing in the third week of January and then slowly transition to the end of March.
“What we’re doing within our stores right now is the SKUs that have the least volume, we’re putting sales on those products and allowing people the opportunity to buy them up now,” she said.
All inventory must be cleared out by March 31 when the government exits liquor retailing. The store licenses will be auctioned off to private interests soon.
The 34 government stores made a $9 million profit just three years ago. That number has declined sharply as more private stores opened.
Because of the closures, 350 full and part time workers will lose their jobs.
NDP MLA Aleana Young said many of the staff have been working in the stores for years.
“I know we’ve heard stories of people saying, ‘You know, I’m a 50-year-old woman. I don’t know what I’m going to do next,’” she said.
Sale items will not be restocked once they’re sold but more popular brands will be as SLGA stores move into their final busy holiday season.
The government announced their plans to sell all SLGA liquor stores and exit the retail market on Oct. 26 of this year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.