Local LCBO customers react to stores reopening after strike

LCBO customers welcomed back in stores It’s a sigh of relief for customers, bar and restaurant owners who depend on the LCBO. CTV’s Stefanie Davis has the local reaction.

The LCBO strike is over after more than two weeks and customers were happy to shop in stores on Tuesday.

In Waterloo Region, many could be seen leaving the stores with big boxes full of product.

"Mostly, I just had to go to The Beer Store so it costed me more money on the bus," said one customer.

Restaurants and bars were just as relieved to see LCBO stores opened again.

“You could order online, but the process was terrible. Often the website would send you in a loop for licensees and you couldn't order anything. There were certain products that were just entirely not available,” said Kypp Saunders, co-owner of Babylon Sisters.

Babylon Sisters turned to local distilleries instead. They aim to continue that practice for certain products.

"Hopefully this ended up being a boom for them, because probably a lot of people were trying their products for the first time. So that's great. That’s one positive from this," Saunders said.

At Proof Kitchen and Lounge, they stocked up before the strike but ran out of certain things.

"We have some higher end cocktails that we like to deliver consistently on and we weren't able to get those products when they ran out,” said Fletcher Falls, general manager at Proof.

Some said they avoided going back to the LCBO store on Tuesday morning because it would be too busy but they plan to head back later this week.

“We’re eager to get back in there, that's for sure,” said Saunders.

Everything is back to normal aside from returns. The company said they will not be processing any product returns until August 6 so staff can have more time to get back into the rhythm of things.