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Convenience store chain 7-Eleven’s announcement that it wants to sell wine and beer to consume in its Ontario stores has surprised business owners and experts alike, and stoked concerns for the future of a restaurant industry still recovering from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The chain announced on Wednesday that it had submitted 61 applications for a licence to sell beer and wine for in-store consumption, which if approved, could put their stores on par with restaurants and bars.
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Tara Deschamps
Trinh Ngo, the Toronto-based owner of Juxtapose gift and home goods stores is shown in this undated handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Juxtapose MANDATORY CREDIT February 19, 2021 - 11:52 AM
TORONTO - Trinh Ngo misses the days when her two Juxtapose gift and home goods stores would be teeming with customers sniffing candles and testing hand lotions.
The Toronto stores, which are temporarily closed while the city and three nearby regions remain under stay-at-home orders from the province, have been operating through curbside pickup for months and sometimes only eke out $50 a day in sales. Even more stressful for Ngo is the anxiety of not knowing what s next.
We might open. We might not. It is very up in the air and everything is possible, said Ngo. If this keeps going I don t know how long I ll survive, but I will hold on for as long as I can until I have to close because it s my baby.
Non-essential retailers in Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region have been restricted to curbside pickup for more than 12 weeks, having moved into Ontario s grey or lockdown stage a month before the entire province was placed under a stay-at-home advisory on Dec. 26.
Those restrictions are now lifted in the majority of areas, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that Toronto and Peel will remain in lockdown for at least two more weeks.