“We are starting to panic a little bit now.”
The BCGEU strike started on Monday, August 15th.
11 days later, liquor and cannabis stores are starting to run low on stock.
Distribution warehouses across the province have been shut down by the strike, severely limiting stores, dispensaries, restaurants and bars access to products that their businesses are built on.
Beer across the board, and many locally and provincially made beverages, like wines and craft beers, are not impacted by the distribution shutdown.
Cannabis, on the other hand, is supplied in full by these distribution warehouses, which has left many local businesses with more and more uncertainty and instability every day.
“The last shipment we were able to get was August 15th. Since then, we haven’t been able to order anything” said Mandy Grier, the Assistant Manager of Epik Products in downtown Prince George.
“Right now, we are basically at a standstill. We have been running out of products because usually we order every week. We have started to notice that our cabinets are starting to become a little bit bare. We are starting to panic a little bit now.”
She said depending on how busy this weekend is, the store will only have product for another week or two.
Marcella Pitre, the Manager of Zaga’s Cannabis Shop, echoed that statement, saying their store also has about two weeks worth of product left to sell.
“People are stocking up more” she said, adding “a lot people are saying they are going to resort to the black market.”
“A lot of people like to come in and buy an ounce at a time” said Grier. “It is a bigger quantity, you usually get a deal as well. Those were the first to go, we have ran out of them completely. If people can’t get their products at a decent price, they will definitely go back to the black market, and we have heard whispers of that with our customers.”
Both stores are planning on relying on accessories sales to help bring them through to the end of the strike, but know that is not a long term solution.
Grier said if the strike “goes on for too long, we might have to shorten hours. Hopefully it doesn’t come to it, but if it got really bad down the line we might have to lay some people off.”
On Tuesday (August 22nd) the BCGEU agreed to return to the bargaining table with the provincial government.
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