It was the first time I noticed a NB Liquor store in an Irving Gas Station.
I always believe that the Irvings would never allow liquor in their stores.
While in that area, someone told me the reason.
A few years ago, Esso had the license to sell Liquor in that area.
I believe it was on Christmas Eve that a person walked in the store with a gun and ordered everyone out from the store.
He put the building on fire and committed suicide.
The place was burnt down to the ground!!!
Esso had a lot of people going to their store because of the Liquor license so the Irvings had to move fast.
With their Irving lobbyists in Fredericton. They quickly got a license to sell liquor so Esso < competition > wouldn’t rebuild the store.
Without a liquor License? It would be ridiculous to open a new store.
So the Irvings are now selling liquor!
I wonder if today’s Irving Christmas or business parties serve liquor these days?
Is this the end of a proud trend of non-alcoholic beverages in the Irving stores?
Don’t the Irvings know you cannot ride a canoe when you’re drinking????...lol...
The end of a proud era indeed!!!!! K.C. Irving must be turning in his grave!!!
9 comments:
The Welsford Irving is not an Irving Store Charles. They are independents who sell Irving Gas. There are some others in the province also. Just for your information.
Charles, you need to stop writing stuff on you blog which you don't have all the facts or information.
Charlie don't worry about the above, This is a very thoughtful piece that deserves merit.
Irving is indeed a company that has taken pride in itself for that very reason and they definitely are to be commended on their very strong policy for drivers of their companies and the zero percent tolerance for any and all Alcohol related occurrences.
But here is where it gets touchy, As the above commenter's are saying it is true on the one hand that some independent companies run those attached businesses which share the rent as a whole.
BUT on the other, One could certainly argue that the name IRVING will indeed be attached to the title of going to pick up some booze (liquor)as they wonder on down to the new local watering hole, And chances are that it will sound a little like--
"Hey dudes lets head down to the IRVING and pick up some beer" (Liquor)
And there in lye's the problem, Considering the Irving Family does so much with the schools and local charities like The chicken noodle club in Saint John for disadvantaged youngsters, among other things in that category.
I feel it would be a shame for our youth to start hearing their older influencers start using phrases like that attached to the Irving identity within their communities because that can only further complicate their trying to reach out to the public to come across as a less frightful force than some seem to present at times with a little bite attached to it.
And lastly The Irving name is a very popular name in the Province of New Brunswick as the "gas-bar" to go and this is also said very strongly throughout the tourist season as well, to, dare I say, "get great service"
:ouch that hurt just a wee bit lol:
But seriously I would hate to hear that someone stopped at an Irving and happened to pick up some spirits while getting gas and disaster just happened to follow with a string of events that might not be in a community's best interest.
Because the name of the staring point for disaster is usually the name that is said to start the story every time it is told over and over and over,,Well you get the point-
All of a sudden "Voila" there goes their so called clean image.
And Like a drunk driver that has just killed someone,,,It can NEVER be reversed,,,Thank you for your time.
A reply to the first comment: It may be an independant to those who know better, but as far as the public knows it is an Irving Store. When I stop there, I stop at "the Irving". Now to run an Irving store, a "Blue Canoe" as it says on the sign out front, you must abide to Irving standards. If you think that Irving had nothing to do with the decision to sell booze in this store, you are a fool. Charles is right, once the store here was approved to sell alcohol, the plans to rebuild the Esso were abandoned. A clear cut case of Irving taking advantage of a tragedy to further line their pockets.
For your information ALL Irving stores are IRVING stores. It's in the contract. At any time the Irvings can buy out the owner at their own price, even an owner is just a manager. They often do this when a store becomes very successful. So there is no such thing as an 'independant' Irving store. Try opening a strip club in a store with the name Irving on it and see what happens.
sorry 12:39
you are showing that you are very ignorant to the truth here. i have a very close friend here in NB that runs a convienience store and sells Irving gas. what he does with his store including selling liquor is up to him. the irvings are certainly able to decide whether they want to sell gas to him, but whether he wants to sell liquor, porn movies, dirty mags or whatever is his decision only. don't think so? go talk to some independent gas stations and get the true facts before you spout your bs. now, they may well choose to pull their gas, but take a drive around the province. this is not new. the store in norton is exactly the same and has been for years. and yes they sell irving gas. how many of the company stores in NB sell booze? none. how many in quebec? all of them.
No big surprise here! The Irvings have been selling beer in Quebec and Newfoundland for years. I know the Irving gas stations in Newfoundland were selling beer before K.C. Irving passed away.
Hey rocket scientist, why don't you try a little civility and perhaps people will pay more attention to your arguments.
Here's a crash course in business 101 (note the sarcasm since the above poster feels no need to be civil I won't either). If there is a great big SIGN that says IRVING try to wrap your head around the idea that maybe, just maybe, it's an IRVING gas station. I know that's just incredible, after all, I walked into Zellers and lo and behold, it was a ZELLERS store! I just couldn't believe it!
You see, there are things in this world called 'franchises'. You see, in a modern industrial economy if you want to open, say, a "Tim Hortons", you can open one. But there's a catch, yes, they get you to sign a piece of paper. We in the grown up world call this a 'contract'. You see, sometimes people don't do what they say, sometimes they 'fib' (oh those bad people).
So they sign what is called a 'franchise agreement'. That lets them 'own' something, but only under certain conditions. For example, you can't walk into a Tim Horton's and order a Mrs. Dunsters doughnut. Even if you own the franchise you can't supply that, because you signed a.......wait for it.....a contract! Yes, you got it that time, very good!
Now, in the world of New Brunswick, where there is only one gas supplier, it becomes very very difficult to sell gas when that supplier won't sell to you. We call that 'control'. You see, if I sell the only product in town, and you need that product, then I can tell you what to do. If you don't do it, then you go out of business.
Of course you can still own your building, you just can't sell gas, and you can't put 'Irving' over the top of it. Why? Well, because you are no longer part of the franchise.
Since you state "now, they may well choose to pull their gas, but take a drive around the province. this is not new." it seems you already had an inkling that this was the case. If somebody has control over you then you don't actually have free will. You can 'choose' to run a strip club,in which case Irving wags the franchise agreement in front of your face, pulls the name, pulls the gas, and essentially you are left with a strip club. So THEY have control. If you can find an irving station with a large porn section send a picture of it to charles because I don't think one exists. Particularly in urban areas Irving keeps a close eye on the stores, how else can you tout 'good service' if people who buy into the franchise 'do whatever they want' and offer shitty service..it defeats the point.
That, of course, doesn't mean that an owner can't make SOME decisions, but that means nothing because even in large retail chains a manager can make SOME decisions. Selling booze from that location is a new development, and so its newsworthy. Just so you know, in Quebec liquor distribution is private so gas stations and stores can sell them, just like the US. In NB that's not the case. Liquor stores are sometimes licensed in rural areas on existing stores because NB Liquor doesn't want bootlegging and its too far to the nearest liquor store and they don't want to operate a building for such a small population.
If another gas station were to try opening up there they'd find it hard to get a liquor license, that would be too much like privatization, which means Irving would have an unfair advantage by selling booze (gee you can grab your booze and have it cold for your drive, now theres a message MADD would love) from their gas station when the competition couldn't.
That's why its an issue, that's why the point was mentioned above about privatizing liquor distribution in NB the same as in the US or Quebec. You see, that's what we call 'a political issue', which is what this blog is all about.
So what have we learned? Yes, Irving runs 'franchises'. In a franchise an 'owner' can do SOME things, but not others. And in that agreement there are stipulations about how the franchise owner can pull the franchise for the reasons listed, and that includes buying equipment, materials, even stock from a different supplier. You have to buy Tim Horton doughnuts remember. And there you have it. Good for you for wrapping your brain around it, perhaps in the future, if you can write like a grown up, people will return the favour.
Isn't it great that people can celebrate the start of 2007 by being so rude to one another?
Post a Comment