In a recent media release and in yet anther sweeping round of closures, effective the end of business day September 28th, 2025, the Beer Store (TBS) will close the following retail stores
- Bala – 3025 Hwy. – #169, Bala, ON, P0C 1A0
- Brampton – 10585 Bramalea Rd., Bldg. D., Brampton, ON, L6R 0C1
- Clinton – 30 Mill St., Clinton, ON, N0M 1L0
- Morrisburg – 111 Main St., Morrisburg, ON, K0C 1X0
- Norwich – 49 Stover St. S., Norwich, ON, N0J 1P0
- Red Lake – 35 Birks Dr., Red Lake, ON, P0V 2M0
- Rodney – 167 Queen St., PO Box 224, Rodney, ON, N0L 2C0
- Sharbot Lake – 24585 Hwy. #7, PO Box 10, Sharbot Lake, ON, K0H 2P0
- South Porcupine – 4145 Harold Ave, South Porcupine, ON, P0N 1H0
- Wawa – 56 Mission Rd., Wawa, ON, P0S 1K0
- Wingham – 82 Josephine St., Wingham, ON, N0G 2W0
According to Vice President of Retail, Ozzie Ahmed, “The Beer Store is adapting to changes in the retail market in Ontario. This is an ongoing process and includes making the difficult decision to close some retail locations. We know this is difficult for customers, employees and the communities where we operate. As the Beer Store modernizes, we’ll continue to be the best place for ice-cold beer, friendly customer service and a deposit return system that gets consumers their money back.”
“The Beer Store recognizes the contributions our employees make to the business and in the communities where we operate. All efforts will be made to support employees through this process in alignment with commitments and agreements,” he added.
Unfortunately, for grocery stores that sell alcohol, it may become a logistical nightmare when they will soon be required to accept the return of empties and refund customer deposits starting January 1, 2026, as part of consumer retail alcohol modernization, found in the Early Implementation Agreement and Provincial regulations.
When it comes to a return and refund system, Ontario could take a lesson from another province. Alberta’s beverage container recycling system is one of the most effective in North America, and it works because people take the time to return the right materials.
Having lived in Edmonton, Alberta, for a time, I know firsthand that the system works.
Over 200 locations in Alberta are depots for recyclable containers. A depot accepts a wide variety of containers, alcoholic, juices, water bottles, etc. Consumers pay a deposit when they buy a drink container and are incentivized to return it to receive a refund when they return the empty (of any kind) to a designated depot. The refund amount depends on the container’s size: 10 cents for containers 1 litre or less and 25 cents for containers larger than 1 litre. All “ready-to-serve” beverage containers sold with a deposit charged in Alberta are part of the recycling system.
The beverage container recovery system in Alberta also operates autonomously from government and does not receive funding of any kind from government. Instead, manufacturers pay a fee to reimburse the Depots for expenses related to collecting and handling beverage containers.
Billions of containers are returned every year and routinely turned into a variety of everyday products – from plastic containers turned into clothing or park benches, glass bottles into construction materials and aluminum cans into more cans.
With an 85 per cent return rate, this not only keeps valuable materials in circulation but also diverts nearly 100 million kilograms of waste from landfills every year. According to Alberta statistics, in 2024, the recycling of Alberta’s non-refillable beverage containers diverted 99,315,330 kg of material away from landfills.
“Beverage container recycling helps the environment by keeping useful materials out of landfills and by eliminating the energy demand and emissions associated with manufacturing new products from raw materials,” according to an Alberta report.
On the social side, the depots often employ those who may not be able to find employment elsewhere and are also a benefit to disadvantaged people who are able to return any container for a refund, whether purchased or found on a roadside.
Ontario has a lot to learn when it comes to recycling and a container refund system. Making grocery stores and convenience outlets responsible for bottle return refunds, and limiting it to only alcoholic beverage containers, is not the way to go for the environment … in my humble opinion.
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Media Release – About The Beer Store: Owned by Ontario-based brewers and named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers 2025, the Beer Store is the largest beer retailer in Ontario. It’s logistics division has 26 points of distribution strategically located across the province to meet the needs of customers. The Beer Store proudly distributed 2.92 million hecto-liters of beer to over 13,000 customers in 2024. In 2024, The Beer Store added over 5,300 new customers to its distribution network. The Beer Store is deeply committed to responsible sales and not selling to minors or people who are intoxicated. More than 2.1 million customers were challenged in 2024. It is also one of the greenest retailers in the world, annually collecting for reuse and recycling approximately 1.6 billion beverage alcohol containers, including beer, wine and spirits. The Beer Store employs 6,500 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full and part-time jobs.
