Service stations and convenience stores float alcohol sales proposal

Meredith Booth
From: The Advertiser
September 08, 2011 12:00AM

OWNERS of service stations and 24-hour convenience stores have launched a bid to sell alcohol.

The Australasian Association of Convenience Stores – which counts Smokemart, On the Run and BP franchise owner Peregrine Corp among its members – has asked the Productivity Commission to consider the proposal.

If stores could sell alcohol it would even the playing field with the big supermarkets, which are allowed to have bottle shops, executive director Jeff Rogut said.

“We’re not suggesting that we trade in alcohol 24 hours a day … this is a major barrier for our members looking to survive,” he said.

“There is no credible reason why convenience stores should not be permitted to sell alcohol,” the AACS said in its submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the retail industry.
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Business analyst IBISWorld estimates Coles and Woolworths dominate almost 60 per cent of national liquor retail sales.

Already straining under higher utility, labour and security costs, convenience stores would be hit by plain cigarette packaging due next year and, in South Australia, complying to new rules requiring kilojoule information on food at point of sale.

“By restricting the convenience industry from selling alcohol, the government is preventing a significant proportion of the retail market from exposure to a potentially crucial revenue stream at a time when threats from the major chains have never been greater and retail trading conditions themselves are extremely tough,” Mr Rogut said.

Convenience stores employ 13,000 people in 4500 stores nationally and have annual sales of $6 billion.
But Consumer Affairs minister Gail Gago said the proposal should be “approached with caution” in South Australia.
“I would be very concerned to see any significant increase in the availability of alcohol,” Ms Gago said. “Data indicates there is a correlation between alcohol-related harm and an increase in licensed premises.

“The proposal by the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores should be approached with caution,” she said.
Ms Gago said the issue had not been raised directly with her by the industry, but had been more broadly discussed in the past.

Spokespeople from Peregrine Corp, BP Australia and 7-Eleven did not respond to requests for an interview by time of publication.