VANCOUVER — British Columbia beer and wine establishments are concerned about the rising price of liquor licences in anticipation of new rules that will allow them to be purchased and moved elsewhere in the province, reports The Vancouver Sun.
The average price for a liquor licence has jumped from $400,000 a few years ago to as much as $750,000, Rising Tides Consultants, a Vancouver-based company that acts as broker for liquor licence sales, told the Sun. Currently, liquor licences can be sold to an establishment within five kilometres of the store, but changes would allow licences to be sold anywhere in B.C., as long as they are within one kilometre of an existing liquor store.
With the new rules in effect next year, some B.C. municipalities are worried the eight-year provincial moratorium on new licenses will spark a bidding war. A Kijiji post advertising the sale of the Red Lion Pub & Liquor Store in Powell River, B.C. urges buyers to consider the fact that soon, its liquor licence will exceed the value of the store and pub. “Buy the store licence now, for the right price, and we will operate the store until you can move the licence to a grocery store in a larger market in the fall of 2015,” the post reads. [vancouversun.com]
