Liquor outlet lifts Rosetown Co-op grocery sales

By Ian MacKay

Adding a liquor outlet to the Rosetown Co-op grocery store has helped increase sales throughout the store, an official said last week.

Proceeds from selling wine, beer and liquor at the Central Plains Co-operative’s local store have “matched and exceeded what we were already doing at our Eston location,” general manager Shawn Adair said after the annual meeting on Wednesday night.

President Brian Watson outlines some of the progress that Central Plains Co-operative made during the past year, with sales up six per cent, as general manager Shawn Adair awaits his turn to speak during the co-operative’s annual general meeting at the Anglican-Lutheran Church hall on Wednesday evening. Photo by Ian MacKay

The co-op had sales of more than $67.75 million during the year that ended on Oct. 31, 2025, an increase of more than $2.6 million from the previous year. It netted almost $887,000, up from about $192,000, helped by more than $2.2 million in refunds and a loyalty program from Federated Co-operatives, its major supplier.

Central Plains experienced a loss of just over $1.2 million on operations during its fiscal year.

Liquor sales have “added enough margin dollars to the bottom line to really push that food store to very, very close to high profitability,” Adair said in an interview after the meeting.

“We didn’t quite make our feasibility numbers for the first year of sales, but we’re projecting that this year will achieve that feasibility level,” he said. “It’s been a nice addition ... liquor in that area drastically increased our sales per square foot.”

“There are always concerns when there is a loss,” he said when asked about complaints over the replacement of the former store’s coffee shop and seating area with liquor shelves and a beer cooler.

“In business, we always try to look at the positives, what we are gaining, and the addition of the liquor within the food store really pushed traffic and sales in all the food departments,” he said.

The co-op is returning more than $600,000 in a patronage allocation to members, compared with almost $134,000 in 2024. Staff began mailing out cheques on Thursday, Adair said.

Central Plains grew while retail co-operatives elsewhere in the country experienced decreases, board president Brian Watson told members and staff who attended the meeting or listened over the internet.

Watson recounted donations the co-op had made to groups and schools in the area it covers from Eston to Perdue. The co-op’s Fuel Good Days in three communities, including a donation of about $2,760 to minor football in Rosetown, raised about $1,000 more than in 2024, he said.

Watson and Virginie Myahrisoa-Solanga were returned by acclamation for three-year terms in the board elections. One seat remains vacant and Watson invited a young person to join the board.

The Federated Co-op refinery in Regina must pay world prices for the crude oil it buys, Adair said when asked why prices at local gas pumps are so high. The refinery can’t “get a special price,” he said. Refineries in other countries “are in a position where they may not get that supply,” Adair said.

Prices for crude have risen to more than $100 per barrel since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for Middle East oil, in response to missile attacks by Israel and the United States.