THUNDER BAY – The owner of AJ’s Trading Post isn’t hoping for an LCBO strike, but he will be ready if a strike happens on Friday.
Gerald Muller received a shipment of alcoholic beverages on Wednesday. He knows a shipment will come next week, but beyond that he’s not sure what the future holds.
“I expect to be quite a bit busier if there is a strike and we're going to do our best to keep our shelves stocked,” he said on Wednesday.
“What product we can get and when we can get it is going to be determined by what happens with the strike. We are certainly trying to restock now, but the supply is tight already.”
For instance, certain brands of vodka are now getting harder to order, Muller said.
He said customers seem to be stocking up just in case the strike does happen.
“They don't seem too concerned yet, but I anticipate if (LCBO workers) actually do go on strike that we will again pick up a lot more business.”
Open seven days per week, AJ’s Trading Post is a liquor convenience outlet that can sell alcohol without using the LCBO’s unionized workers.
Muller’s normal customers would be anyone driving by on their way home from work, cottagers and people visiting some of the nearby lakes including Lake Superior.
“Lots of people heading home from work have become regular customers,” he said, adding that he is expecting to see more customers if there’s a strike.
“We're only nine kilometres past city limits on Highway 61, so it's a straight shot,” he said. “It’s pretty easy for them to get here.”
If the LCBO does go on strike on Friday, Nancy Ross will also be ready.
Ross visited the LCBO store in the Arthur Street Marketplace on Wednesday to stock up.
“I was quite eager to stock up just in case there was a strike,” she said. “And I was kindly doing a pickup order for a friend as well.”
"We're only weekend warriors, I suppose you could call it. And I guess there's grocery stores and outlets out of town" that can be used in a pinch, Ross said.
If she was desperate, Ross said she would go to AJ’s Trading Post or Green Acre Variety in Gillies.
The LCBO strike could start on Friday at 12:01 a.m. If a strike occurs, retail stores across Ontario would close for two weeks. If the strike is still happening as of July 19, 30 stores would open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with limited hours until the strike ends.
