Life just got a little more intoxicating for Torontonians with the opening of LCBO’s colossal new lakefront flagship store at 100 Queens Quay East. The gleaming new space measures 24,000 square feet, providing ample room to stock the imposing collection of 1,500 hand-picked Vintages wines.
The ground-floor store anchors the equally new and gleaming LCBO headquarters. Part of the ambitious Sugar Wharf development, the 25-storey office tower was designed by Toronto-based B+H Architects, whose visually prominent projects include Ripley’s Aquarium and the MaRS Centre.
The spacious interior vaunts a selection of over 4,000 imbibable products from all over Canada and the globe, with a special shout-out to Made-in-Ontario beverages. In addition to 230 VQA Ontario wines, beers from 139 Ontario craft breweries are available, many of them working up a glacial frost inside a 1,400-square-foot cold room.
As part of its inaugural festivities, from February to April, the mega-store will be hosting various pop-up events featuring a selection of Toronto-based alcoholic beverage makers. Other pop-ups, such as pairings for holidays and special occasions, will become an ongoing feature. Also in the mix are “tasting hubs” that will allow customers to sample new products and interact with drink experts.
More permanent forms of interaction include digital kiosks that provide detailed information about products and their in-store and online availability. You’ll also be able to track down the precise shelf location of a coveted bottle; no mean feat in such a gigantic space.
Thanks to a generous parking lot––with spots for 44 vehicles––customers also have the option of online ordering for same-day pickups, with the guarantee your purchases will be available in three hours or less.
In the LCBO’s early days, stores were purposely tucked away on side streets and designed to make the experience of buying booze as bureaucratic, and shameful as possible. That this welcoming and state-of-the-art new flagship store is being unveiled on the 95th anniversary of the LCBO underscores how far the once draconian agency charged with curbing and controlling Ontarians’ liquor consumption has come.
The LCBO flagship store is open Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
