Ward 3 city councillor Renaldo Agostino says he's disappointed but not surprised with the announcement of two beer stores closing in Windsor.
"I hate to say I told you so but I told you so and this is what the concern was when we starting moving beer sales inside variety stores that there was a potential for this to happen," says Agostino.
As AM800 news reported Wednesday morning, the Beer Store at 790 Goyeau St. and the store at 1780 College Ave. will close in early July alongside nine other stores in the province.
Agostino says there were concerns about locations closing with beer being made available in convenience stores.
He says he's thinking about the workers at those stores and what the future holds for the sites.
The location on Goyeau St. is in Agostino's ward and he wants to know what the plan is for the property.
"I want to know what the plan is especially if it's owned by the government, like what is the plan with that facility, what is the plan with that building so it doesn't become a blight on downtown or the west end," says Agostino.
He says he has reached out to workers at the locations already.
"Certainly disappointed when I heard the news, certainly not surprised," he says. "It is a changing landscape and my biggest concern of course is the jobs. I want to make sure nobody is losing their jobs because those are good paying jobs that right now more than ever people in this community need."
The Beer Store says the closures are the result of a changing retail landscape.
Vice President of Retail Ozzie Ahmed says "The Beer Store is modernizing operations to meet the needs of marketplace – this means making the difficult decision to close some stores. We know this will be disappointing to many customers and our valued employees. We don’t make this decision lightly; it is part of our ongoing commitment to business sustainability and serving the needs of our customers."
The Windsor locations will shutdown on July 6.