Weeks after the Ontario government allowed convenience stores to sell beer, wine, and coolers, some store owners in Ottawa are concerned about the impact on safety and about the potential for increased shoplifting.
Irin Jon, whose parents own the Bayscorner convenience store at Bay and Gloucester Streets, explained that, while they have considered selling alcohol, fear of increased shoplifting is holding them back.
“It will definitely increase the amount of people we would get, but we just want to make sure that it wouldn’t cause any issues with shoplifting,” she said. The family that runs the business are particularly worried about safety and protecting profit margins.
Jon added that the fridges required to store the alcohol would be costly to buy and to run, and that their store doesn’t have a lot of extra space to display the alcohol.
M.D. Allam, owner of Etcetera Mart on the corner of Bank and Nepean Streets, is also on the fence, but says he’s leaning against.
Allam says his storefront window has been smashed twice by shoplifters, resulting in thousands of dollars in repairs.
“It’s not a secure area,” Allam said, highlighting that, even with the potential increase in clientele, a few bad customers could easily negate any sales.
“Out of 50 good customers, it only takes two bad customers to ruin [the profit],” he said.
Allam believes he would need to hire security to make the change work but can’t afford it.
Samuel Demissie, owner of Royal Variety Convenience at the intersection of Bank and Cooper Streets, also can’t afford to hire security. He also doubts it would stop thefts.
“I can see at the LCBO they have so many security guards, and they still have people stealing,” he said.
The LCBO reported more than 1,500 thefts in the last three months of 2023 at its Ottawa locations alone. It has not divulged the cost to the bottom line, however.
Ottawa Police say there were 1,334 reported thefts under $5,000 downtown between September 2023 and September 2024, the highest of any city neighbourhood.
But Demissie has chosen to sell alcohol, despite fearing an increase in thefts.
He says it’s common for people to shoplift small items such as candy bars and lighters, but these are only a loss of a few dollars, whereas having alcohol stolen would be a “big loss.”
