Hundreds of convenience stores in small Ontario towns are already selling alcohol

In September, Ontario will open up wine, beer and ready-made cocktail sales to corner stores and gas stations.But about400 corner stores in small towns can already sell alcohol through the LCBO's Convenience Outlet Program, or what's known as agency stores.

The program is generally open to stores in communities where there isn't already an LCBO retail location.

Ray Sguin owns two Lucky 13 convenience stores in northeastern Ontario. One is in North Bay and the other is the nearby town of Corbeil. His Corbeil location is also an LCBO convenience outlet.

That allows him to sell the "full menu" of LCBO products, including beer, wine and liquor.

Sguin saidhe welcomes the upcoming changes to how alcohol is sold in Ontario, so he can start carrying alcohol at his North Bay location.

"I guess there will be a little bit of competition, but the way I look at it, if you're better than your competition it should be fine," he said.

"It'll just make us be more aggressive and more aware of what's going on and make sure that we're the best."

Sguin saidhe disagrees with concerns that opening up beer, wine and ready-made cocktail sales to all gas stations and convenience stores will make alcohol too readily available.

"My job is not to judge what it does to the people. It's to be in business and to try to survive, right?" he said.

"I don't know the impact it will have on the community. I don't know the impact it'll have with consumption. But at the end of the day, why am I not given the same advantage as other people to sell the product?"

Sandeep Kumar Patel owns Wanup General Store in the community of the same nameand also participates in the LCBO's Convenience Outlet Program.

He saidmore competition will make it difficult for him to make a profit on alcohol sales, where margins are already thin. He saidif people can get beer and wine at other convenience stores or gas stations, there would be less incentive for them to come to his store.

Convenience outlets purchase their alcohol from the LCBO at a wholesale rate that represents a 10 per cent discount from the retail cost. It's the same discount rate all convenience stores and gas stations will get in the fall.

But Kumar Patel saidhe also has to pay a delivery fee that shaves three to four per cent off his profits. He treats alcohol as a loss leader that brings people into his store.

"If someone stops for alcohol, maybe they'll buy snacks, chips, candy, whatever," he said.

"And the margins are higher on the snacks and candy."

In an email to CBC News, the LCBO said the Convenience Outlet Program "will continue to be an important way to provide communities who do not have convenient access to an LCBO store with socially responsible retail access to beverage alcohol."