Opening a liquor store

Tetsugen

How does one go about opening a liquore store in Edmonton Alberta ? I have a sibling that expressed interest and I have no idea how this side of things work.

EskimoDave

If its a franchise, then talk to them, if not then you won't find the advice you need here.

Wezoin

I'm not sure if Alberta has a provincial monopoly on liquor sales (like in Ontario with the LCBO) but if not I'm sure there is a liquor control board that would have to grant you a license. They would be the ones to talk to about the rules and regulations. There may be some special procedure they'll have you go through to ensure they trust you enough not to sell to minors, etc.

This looks like a fairly good website to start looking at. It would appear there isn't the monopoly there, so you should be allowed to open one, its just the method by which to open one that you need to find out from them. There is contact info for them at the top.

Cyd Cyclone

Wezoin wrote: »

I'm not sure if Alberta has a provincial monopoly on liquor sales (like in Ontario with the LCBO) but if not I'm sure there is a liquor control board that would have to grant you a license. They would be the ones to talk to about the rules and regulations. There may be some special procedure they'll have you go through to ensure they trust you enough not to sell to minors, etc.

This looks like a fairly good website to start looking at. It would appear there isn't the monopoly there, so you should be allowed to open one, its just the method by which to open one that you need to find out from them. There is contact info for them at the top.

We no longer have a liquor monopoly for liquor sales, but I'm fairly sure there's still only one distributor.

Your best bet is to franchise a Liquor World (or whatever the hell they're called) in one of the newer subdivisions. Alternately, someone selling an operation that's already set up could work too. Also, I hope you have a lot of starting capital, as any new business should.

NotYou

A lot of small colleges/schools have classes you can take on starting a small business. I'd probably take some of those before I did anything else.

Cyd Cyclone

Oh, and a Business Plan. For the love of Christ, come up with a Business Plan. 'Sell Booze' doesn't count.

Wezoin

Cyd Cyclone wrote: »

Oh, and a Business Plan. For the love of Christ, come up with a Business Plan. 'Sell Booze' doesn't count.

Although 'sell booze' doesn't count as a business model, there really isn't that much more you can come up with in terms of a business model for a one off liquor store.

Obviously check out different locations for rent prices, look into the markets around those locations, find out how much the shelving, signage, cash register, advertising, and product will cost you, and what you will have to sell stuff for, and how much you will have to sell to make enough profit to stay in business. Look into any possible liabilities (if someone buys booze from you, drinks it and drives and does damage are you responsible, if they buy an excessive amount of booze and get hurt/cause damage, are you liable, etc.)

I do think for the most part if you set up a liquor store somewhere where there aren't any others around, and can keep your prices reasonable you will probably get enough business to turn a profit, as it isn't really that novel of an idea. Still, its important to make sure you go into this knowing as much as you possibly can.