The Creighton Liquor Store is one of dozens of provincially-owned liquor stores throughout Saskatchewan that will be closing down before the end of March.
A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) confirmed that the store will close in the next few months in a statement to The Reminder last week. Last month, the provincial government announced it would be closing all 34 SLGA stores throughout Saskatchewan, including the one in Creighton, by March 31. No exact date for when the Creighton store will close was provided, but the spokesperson said that products available on shelves will be tapered off in the lead-up to closing each store.
Province-wide, about 300 people will lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown - provincially owned liquor stores in northern communities like Buffalo Narrows, La Loche, La Ronge, Meadow Lake and Nipawin will also be closing by March 31.
“All 34 SLGA stores will cease operations no later than March 31, 2023 but actual dates when stores close to customers will vary depending on factors like lease dates, time required to decommission locations, etc,” said the SLGA spokesperson.
“As we get closer to closing dates for individual stores, product inventories will be reduced.”
The SLGA also owns the buildings where several provincially operated liquor stores are located, including the Creighton store. That means that once the store is closed, the SLGA will plan to sell the building, doing so under provincial government policy for selling off properties and assets - through an auction.
“SLGA owns 19 of the 34 affected stores, including the Creighton location. Properties will be made available for sale through Government’s asset disposal processes/commercial realtors,” reads the SLGA statement.
The building itself will not automatically come with the permit to sell liquor, however. The spokesperson said that the liquor permit for the store itself will be sold at auction later this year, separate from the building sale.
“The empty physical buildings do not include a liquor permit. The permit associated with the Creighton store will be sold via a public online auction process in early 2023. More details about the process will be available before the commencement of the auction," said the spokesperson.
The closure will leave Creighton without a liquor store, though liquor will still be available in the community through offsale purchase. The area’s sole liquor store will be the Flin Flon Liquor Mart, which is operated by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, a provincial Crown corporation.
