Sobeys opens Stonebridge liquor store

Customers sample wine at the tasting bar inside Sobeys liquor store in Stonebridge.

Saskatoon’s second privately run liquor store is now open.

Sobeys officially opened its first liquor store outside of Alberta in Saskatoon’s Stonebridge neighbourhood this week.

The 10,000-square-foot outlet includes a 360-degree tasting bar, where customers can try every wine in the flyer before buying, as well as a large walk-in cooler.

“We have a 2,000-square-foot beer cooler, which is probably four times the size of anything we’ve built in the past,” said Jeff Hodgson, director of merchandising for Sobeys. “For Saskatchewan, obviously that’s going to be something really special. It’s the largest in the province.”

The store is open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. seven days a week. The provincial government granted Sobeys a private liquor licence in 2013.

Co-op opened the first privately run liquor store in the city earlier this year.