Feature Article October 30, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb Home LLBO Comes to VeronaVeronas long-awaited beer and liquor outlet is one step closer to reality. Graham Brooks, proprietor of Brooks IGA, has received verbal confirmation that his proposal has been approved as the site of the villages Agency Store, which will go into the vacant space left by the old Limestone Brewmasters business. An agency store is different from an LCBO or Beer Store outlet in that it operates from an existing business, gets its product from both The Beer Store and the LCBO, and its employees are not members of their unions.
Graham says the working date for opening the new outlet is December 3, but as of this writing, he hadnt talked further with LCBO officials to confirm that. For that reason, hes still not certain whether hell need to knock out the wall between the grocery store and the northern space, but is quite prepared to do it. I want to free up some space [in the IGA], he says. I can rearrange some aisles things like chips and mixes to open up the space in here. Graham says he has a good start on whats needed in the agency store. The cold rooms are already in place from the old Limestone Brewmaster business. As for stocking the agency store, I can stock anything. Whatevers available in the liquor store is available here. And theres the beer, of course.
The agency store announcement is the penultimate step in Veronas 25-year struggle to acquire an outlet. It began in the late 70s with a question on the municipal ballot to change Portland Township from dry to wet. Although more than 50% of the voters agreed to the proposal, the number was less than the two-thirds plurality needed to change the law. Two years later a second vote gathered the required percentage, and it became possible to buy an alcoholic drink in a licensed dining room. But although many business and community people worked and lobbied for years, they couldnt break through to bringing a full blown outlet to the village. A couple of those people were among the several businesses who applied for the agency store.
Among business and community leaders in Verona it has become an axiom that the village loses major dollars especially in tourist season - to communities like Sydenham who have liquor and beer outlets. Stories abound of tourists who, after asking a merchant where they can buy beer and finding they have drive down the road, head straight back to their cars without buying what they came into the store to get. The new agency store gives village merchants a better chance to serve that large clientele.
