TORONTO – Mac’s Convenience Stores announced
earlier this week that it would create 1,600 new, full-time jobs if allowed by
the Ontario provincial government to sell alcohol at its 547 Ontario stores.
"We want to provide good-paying jobs for
hard-working people right across the province," said Tom Moher, vice president
of operations for Mac's in Ontario. "And of course, we want to provide our
valued customers with a one-stop shopping experience. They're continually
telling us that they want to be able to purchase beer, wine and spirits at
Mac's."
The announcement comes after the release of an
Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) study that concluded the province would receive increased revenue if
alcohol was permitted for sale at convenience stores. A previous survey by the
OCSA found that 67% of Ontarians are in favor of being able to buy alcohol at
convenience stores.
"The people of Ontario are telling their
politicians that it's time to modernize alcohol retailing in this province,"
Moher said. "Many of our stores are in rural Ontario, which needs jobs. We
want to provide them."
Moher said that the private sector can build
facilities for the sale of alcohol, saving the government money. He pointed to
Mac’s new store in Thamesford, one of the company’s two stores in Ontario that
are permitted to sell alcohol, as an example. The store cost $3 million to
build.
"We in the private sector can build
facilities for the sale of beer, wine and spirits," said Moher,
"versus taxpayer investment in bricks and mortar…We're experienced,
responsible retailers of alcohol throughout Canada, the United States and the
world.”
The company operates 665 stores in Quebec,
Newfoundland and Labrador, which can sell beer. It also sells beer at 3,000
stores in the United States and 1,400 in Europe.