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THE FUTURE OF OUR RETAIL
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Having lived in small town Ontario for the past several years I had never been into one of The Beer Store's new retail outlets. I had heard much about them and decided to pay one of them in Oak Ridges a visit.
My first impression when I entered was the fact that it was so spacious and spotless; high ceiling, wide aisles and so clean. All product was easily accessible and visible, the shelves were well stocked, and unlike the older smaller stores you could actually see, and were blown away by, the amount of brands that The Beer Store actually has to offer.
The back warehouse area was also spacious with enough room for back up stock to be neatly stacked and squared away and still leave plenty of
room for maneuvering.
I talked to many customers who entered the store that day and asked them how they liked their new Beer Store. Many loved the fact that now they can take their time and 'shop', while the wide aisles meant that you
were not in anyone's way. Others liked that there were plenty of sales terminals so no more long line-ups on busy weekends.
While I was talking to customers there were still the 'busy' guys who came in grabbed their favourite beer and were in and out of the store in less than a minute, so it just proved that this store caters to every
type of customer. The new Beer Store is the future of beer retail 'now'.
The Beer Store President Ted Moroz said that there are two new stores open in this format with many to come: “Oak Ridges and Grimsby are our two test markets but there are more to come including new stores in Waterloo, Bradford, Mississauga, Brampton, Bowmanville, Barrhaven, and Sudbury to name a few.
Customers really like the dual empty return counters and the shopping experience. These new stores were really built from the scores of suggestions that came from many retail employees and I am proud that we were able to implement most of them.”
By Bill Perrie for Kegs & Cases
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