Residents could soon have liquor delivered right to their door.
Andrew Romaniuk, owner of Aristocrat Taxi Line Ltd., saw a need that he hopes to fill within the Town and MD of Bonnyville.
Operating in the community for 21 years has taught Romaniuk some of the needs of his clients, and that includes trips to the liquor store after a few too many.
“Over the years, I have noticed there would be a need for someone who had had a few drinks and wanted more. Right now, I offer rides, because we’re a taxi service, and that works fine, but if I offer delivery, it will give me some extra income,” he explained.
This was where he got the inspiration to put in an application with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) so he could start offering alcohol delivery on a call-by-call basis.
He hopes that by offering this service, he will deter people from drinking and driving.
“When someone runs out of alcohol, there are some cases where I take them to the store, but they want to have a good time still and if there is no service, they’re not going to walk, they’re going to drive,” Romaniuk expressed. “I can’t say 100 per cent for sure, but I hope it would deter that.”
In order to be able to start delivering alcohol, Romaniuk had to apply to the AGLC, and is currently waiting out the 21-day objection period.
Romaniuk had to complete the AGLC Smart Training, and will be the only taxi within his company permitted to deliver alcohol because of the necessary certification.
“Anybody who is working with liquor and selling liquor has to have this course,” he explained. “It’s only me (delivering), because my wife doesn’t want to do it and my other drivers don’t want to do it. They think it will be a hassle.”
Another component the AGLC takes into consideration before approving applications is whether or not the company plans on storing any alcohol.
In this case, Romaniuk doesn’t plan on keeping liquor on-hand, but instead, will purchase it as requested by his customers.
“I’m not going to store anything. My purpose is to go to the liquor store when they’re open, purchase the liquor, deliver it, and collect the money. I’m not in the liquor business, just delivery,” he explained.
He hasn’t ironed out the details in terms of hours of operation, but when delivering alcohol, he will be checking ID.
Because Romaniuk already offers delivery services within the Town of Bonnyville, he doesn’t foresee any issues with adding alcohol delivery.
In fact, this service isn’t completely new to the area. A local liquor store used to offer liquor delivery, but stopped once new owners took over, explained Romaniuk, adding he doesn’t expect it to be too busy once he’s open for business.
