(Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Melfort liquor outlet

Auction completed for new Melfort liquor outlet

Dec 17, 2019 | 1:42 PM

The auction for the Melfort retail liquor store permit was by far the most expensive of the five permits auctioned off recently.

The auction was held through McDougall Bay auctioneers, and closed Dec. 6.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) revealed the Melfort permit was purchased for $825,000.

The new Melfort outlet owner, Trent Zwingli, told northeastNOW he and his wife were thrilled when they discovered they were the winning bidders.

“It starts a whole new chapter in our lives,” Zwingli said. He recently retired from farming and decided they wanted to start a new venture.

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He said they plan to have the liquor outlet open by the fall of 2020.

“We’ve been talking to the people out at StoneGate (Shopping Centre) as well on the project about the location of the new liquor outlet,” Zwingli said. “But in saying that, we do have a couple other options that we’re looking at to follow up on as well if that… falls through.”

According to Zwingli, the outlet will be like a traditional liquor store with a few more options, including mix and other items.

The original name of the new outlet was going to be the Melfort Liquor Lodge, but the Liquor Lodge name was already trademarked. It will now be known as the Melfort Liquor Loft.

The permit auction came about from a government decision in May that changed how additional liquor retail outlets are distributed in the province. Under the new regulations, a municipality with between 5,001 and 10,000 people, which includes Melfort, qualifies for four liquor distributors.

Melfort currently has three, including the current SLGA liquor store, Chances ‘R’, and Drafties Pub.

Melfort’s SLGA liquor store had originally been slated to close this past summer. The operation of the store was extended until at least March 2020 to coincide with the end of the existing collective agreement with the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union, after SLGA and the union struck an agreement.

Meanwhile, there were four additional permits in the recent provincial auction. Basile and Sons Holdings Ltd. was the successful bidder for three of them, purchasing the Warman permit for $500,050, the permit in Martensville for $430,050, and the Weyburn permit for $325,100.

New Way Liquor Store Inc. won the auction for the permit in Estevan with a bid of $295,000.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority said in a news release “the winning bidders will still need to proceed through the regular licensing process before a permit is issued.”

The provincial government announced Nov. 7 it would be changing to an auction process rather than a request for proposals.

“This [auction] method is the most efficient and the quickest way forward for those communities that qualify for the population matrix,” Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming, Gene Makowsky said during the Nov. 7 announcement.

Makowsky said the request for proposals takes a long time and is burdensome to both the SLGA and those willing to put forward an RFP.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974