Winnipeg 7-Eleven applies for liquor licence

You may soon be able to get a beer with your Slurpee at one Winnipeg convenience store. 

The 7-Eleven at 3031 Ness Ave., near Sturgeon Road, is applying for a liquor licence that, if approved, would allow customers to order alcohol alongside food orders. 

The application is for a dining room liquor service licence that would allow the store to serve alcohol from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., Monday to Sunday.

A sign posted at the entrance says the store will be remodelled to include a furnished eating area where "adult guests can enjoy their meal with a glass of beer or wine."

A spokesperson for the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba said 7-Eleven has applied for a dining room liquor licence for that location.

Applies to takeout, delivery

This licence type allows liquor to be sold and consumed in a dining room when the kitchen is open, as well as with takeout and delivery food orders, said Lisa Hansen, a communications analyst for the provincial regulator. 

Under provincial regulations, liquor can be sold without a meal in a licensed dining room only if at least half of the seating is occupied by customers who have ordered a meal and/or if half of the seating is unoccupied.

With takeout or delivery, liquor can only be sold alongside a meal, the province's regulations say. 

Any alcohol sold with delivery or takeout food orders would be limited to beer, wine, cider and coolers in their original sealed container, she said. 

This type of licence does not allow for retail sale, so the convenience store would not be allowed to become a vendor, Hansen said.

In order to qualify for a dining room liquor licence, a business must have sufficient seating for patrons and operate an on-site kitchen, Hansen said. All of this would have to be in place before the liquor licence was issued, she said. 

The kitchen would have to be open while liquor is being served and must offer "a sufficient variety of meals," Hansen said. 

There's no stipulation on what kind of liquor a licensee sells, she said. 

"That would be at the prerogative of the licensee if they wanted to restrict, you know, the types of alcohol. We don't place that restriction on this type of licence," she said. 

Nothing in the province's regulations has changed to allow a convenience store to apply for a liquor licence, Hansen said. 

"The ability to operate a dining room has been around prior to this, so it would purely be the decision of the applicant," she said.

"I can't really say what the driver was, but nothing has changed in that regard."

If the licence application is successful, beer and wine at the location will be stored under lock and key, with employee access only, a 7-Eleven Canada spokesperson said. All staff will also be required to complete mandatory safe service training.  

7-Eleven has already been approved for licences to serve alcohol in nearly all of its stores in Ontario. So far, the convenience store chain has only started selling alcohol at two Ontario locations, in Leamington and Niagara Falls.

In Alberta, 11 of the chain's locations are licensed, and can also sell beer and wine for takeout and delivery.