Beer Store closing a store in Ottawa’s west end

The Beer Store is closing more locations across the province, including one in Ottawa’s west end. CTV’s Kimberley Fowler has more.

The Beer Store is closing its location across the street from Carlingwood Mall, the second outlet to close in Ottawa this year.

The Beer Store announced four stores in Ontario will close on June 15, including the location at 2144 Carling Avenue.

“As the marketplace shifts, we must adapt our business model to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our customers, Ozzie Ahmed, vice-president of retail at the Beer Store, said in a statement.

“We are closely monitoring the performance of each store and at times may need to make the challenging decision to close select stores. While we acknowledge that closures can be disappointing for our loyal customers and the dedicated employees who work in these stores, every decision we make is rooted in our commitment to being a sustainable business and ensure we can continue serving customers for many years to come.”

• Beer Store closing locations in Bells Corners, Kingston

The Beer Store is also closing two locations in Toronto and one in Woodbridge.

The union representing Beer Store workers says the retailer is allowed to close stores across Ontario.

“It’s unknown what the future holds. They’re allowed to, with the early implementation agreement, go down to 300 stores by the end of this year, and then in 2026 close as many as they want,” John Nock, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, told CTV News Ottawa.

“A good thing is we have the distribution of convenience stores and convenience stores can pick up as Beer Store as well if they don’t want the delivery, and we have the empties.”

Nock says employees at the Carling Avenue store could be transferred to other Beer Store locations in Ottawa.

The Beer Store employs 6,500 workers across Ontario.

In February, the retailer announced its locations on North Side Road in Bells Corners and a location in Kingston was closing.

According to the Beer Store’s website, there will still be 16 locations in Ottawa once the Carling Avenue location closes.

The closure of the Beer Store locations comes months after the Ontario government expanded the sale of alcohol into convenience stores, gas stations and big box stores such as Costco and Walmart.