Montreal buyers can now decide up a bottle of Gray Goose or Veuve Clicquot whereas doing their weekly grocery run, as a handful of native shops quietly opened SAQ Zones final week.
A number of grocery chains, like IGA, Costco, and Maxi, launched devoted liquor sections in choose Montreal areas, including spirits to the SAQ’s rising listing of retail partnerships throughout Quebec.
What’s an SAQ Zone?
After launching a home-delivery pilot project final 12 months, the SAQ kicked off a major retail expansion in January, issuing a name for proposals to deploy 92 “SAQ Zones” throughout the province. The idea is easy: a devoted part inside an present retailer, stocked with a curated number of wines and spirits.
A primary wave of round 40 areas has already been confirmed throughout chains like IGA, Maxi, Metro and Couche-Tard, in addition to smaller neighbourhood spots like Proxi, Boni-Soir and Dépanneur Voisin. About 20 Couche-Tard areas are additionally anticipated to get their very own zones as quickly as this week.
IGA
An SAQ Zone in an IGA retailer in Verdun. Guillaume Rondeau | Facebook
As shared by Fb person Guillaume Rondeau, an IGA grocery store on Rue Bannantyne in Verdun now contains a complete part to SAQ merchandise.
Accessible gadgets embrace Captain Morgan rum, Jameson whiskey, and Bacardi rum. The shop is allowed to promote as much as 112 of the SAQ’s hottest bottles.
Maxi
The second Montreal location is the Maxi in Côte-des-Neiges, which additionally opened its SAQ Zone this week.
Whereas we’ve not seen their total choice, a Maxi retailer in Sherbrooke, Quebec, gave its buyers a glimpse of their new choice.
An SAQ part at a Maxi retailer. Maxi (Sherbrooke, Galt) | Facebook
Together with an array of premium wines and instances of arduous seltzers are bottles of Aperol, Ungava gin, and Smirnoff vodka.
Costco
The Costco on Bridge Avenue opened its SAQ Zone on March 24. In accordance with Narcity Quebec, which visited the shop, the part carries round 40 merchandise, together with higher-end wines and a stable vary of spirits overlaying gin, whisky, rum and vodka.
Costs are precisely the identical as on the SAQ, for the reason that provincial liquor board nonetheless holds the monopoly on these merchandise. “We won’t go 10 cents greater or 10 cents decrease,” an worker confirmed to Narcity Quebec.
SAQ merchandise at CostcoNarcity Quebec
Your SAQ Encourage card will not be accepted on the register, however Costco Govt members will earn the usual 2% cashback on their purchases.
The Bridge location was chosen partially as a result of it sits exterior a industrial district, which is a comparatively uncommon setup amongst Quebec Costco shops.
This is a have a look at a few of what’s obtainable:
- Veuve Clicquot (750 mL) — $89.75
- Gray Goose Vodka (750 mL) — $54.75
- Jameson (750 mL) — $42.75
- Gin Ungava (750 mL) — $39.75
- Baileys (750 mL) — $34.25
- Coureur des Bois (750 mL) — $37.00
- Aperol Spritz (750 mL) — $28.10
- Smirnoff Ice (case) — $30.00
- White Claw (case) — $33.60
All costs embrace taxes.