Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Zuccoli IGA owner Shelley Lay says she’s been forced to close her bottle shop until the end of the month following changes in how grog sales are calculated in proportion to grocery items

Transcript

Zuccoli IGA owner Shelley Lay says she’s been forced to close her bottle shop until the end of the month following changes in how grog sales are calculated in proportion to grocery items · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know that a local corner store which also operates
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: as a bottle shop, has been forced to shut shop
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: until the end of the month. Now it comes after
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: changes in how grog sales are calculated in proportion to
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: grocery items. Now joining me on the line right now
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  Speaker 1: is Shelley Lay, who is the co owner of zicicoli IgA.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Shelley.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Shelley, just explain to us why have you had to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: close your bottle shop until the end of the months.
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  Speaker 2: So this is not in relation to the crime or
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  Speaker 2: Declan's death that we've seen across the some closures of
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  Speaker 2: bottle shops of late. But why we've had to close
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  Speaker 2: our bottle shop is that we are under a law
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  Speaker 2: that states that we can only sell liqua. Our total
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: liquor sales cannot exceed twenty five percent of our total
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  Speaker 2: gross turnover between the two stores, and over this quarter
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  Speaker 2: will be exceeding that twenty five percent. So to remain
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  Speaker 2: within the law, we've had to close our bottle shop.
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  Speaker 1: So what impact is that now going to have on
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  Speaker 1: your business?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's detrimental to our business. This model is not feasible.
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  Speaker 2: It's not practical, it's not measured correctly, and it's certainly
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  Speaker 2: not fair when the big guys are not measured with
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  Speaker 2: this same rule. So if you can't, we have to
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  Speaker 2: shut our shop. But you can. It's not stopping the
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  Speaker 2: volume of alcohol that is available because you can just
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  Speaker 2: go up the road and buy as much as you
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  Speaker 2: want and there is no cap.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, Shelley, I know that
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  Speaker 1: some people listening might be thinking to themselves, well, you know,
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  Speaker 1: if it means that there's less alcohol on the streets,
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  Speaker 1: that could be a good thing.
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  Speaker 2: And that is a hoard undred percent not what we
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  Speaker 2: are saying, because if you don't buy it from my store,
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  Speaker 2: you can go and buy it from any other outlet
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  Speaker 2: that is that are not measured with this same cap.
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  Speaker 2: So the volume is not changing. All I'm wanting is
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  Speaker 2: for this to be increased so that small business in
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  Speaker 2: the territory can thrive, can stay open, can employ locals,
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  Speaker 2: keep the money here. Because by our doors being shut today, tomorrow,
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  Speaker 2: and what are we Thursday and Friday, it's just driving
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  Speaker 2: customers to the big players up the road, and they
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  Speaker 2: are getting all of that business.
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  Speaker 1: Shelley, what will it mean for your bottle shop staff.
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  Speaker 2: So our bottle shop staff don't have any hours today.
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  Speaker 2: They're casual staff and they're not required, so their whole
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: week has just been turned upside down. And there's a
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  Speaker 2: number of facts that have come into play. There is
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  Speaker 2: this measurement of the twenty five percent used to be
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  Speaker 2: measured annually, and then that a snap decision was made
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  Speaker 2: to start measuring that quarterly for this quarter. So over
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  Speaker 2: the year it worked itself out with the highs and
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  Speaker 2: low season that we experienced here in Darwin, with people
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  Speaker 2: going away, the dry and the wet, but because it's
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: now measured quarterly, it's a smaller pool. You can't it's
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  Speaker 2: not working itself out. Unfortunately, we have had a train
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  Speaker 2: derailment that stopped grocery items from being delivered to our store,
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  Speaker 2: so something that was nothing to do with us, but
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  Speaker 2: we didn't have food on our shelves, so we couldn't
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  Speaker 2: sell any grocery or as many grocery items, so grocery
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  Speaker 2: sales were down. And then with the BWS has been
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  Speaker 2: shut last week a number of days in closing earlier,
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  Speaker 2: it meant that people who were buying alcohol legally who
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: are over eighteen who were not on the BDR and
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  Speaker 2: who lived in the local area. We're then going to
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  Speaker 2: other outlets. But that's another reason why it's pushed us over.
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  Speaker 1: Now. I know, Shelly, some people are going to be
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  Speaker 1: listening and thinking, and they are going to be thinking
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  Speaker 1: to themselves. Look, you know, I don't have an issue
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  Speaker 1: with some of those corner stores having to sell less alcohol.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what would you say to them?
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  Speaker 2: I would say, what is the difference between buying it
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  Speaker 2: from the corner store to a major outlet?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? Look, I think it's a fair enough point purchase.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, at any other liquor store. Why is the little
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  Speaker 2: guy the problem? Why are we if you talk all
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  Speaker 2: alcohol away from fifty one grocery liquor store licenses in
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  Speaker 2: the territory, do you think the liquor problem that we
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  Speaker 2: have would be sick Well, yeah, you know. And the
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  Speaker 2: flow on effect to that is that the stores cannot
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  Speaker 2: survive with just the grocery sales. And it's not because
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  Speaker 2: we need that the liquor income. It's the convenience offering.
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  Speaker 2: So if people need the convenience, so they're not going
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  Speaker 2: to stop at my shop and just buy their groceries
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  Speaker 2: when they can stop them buy their alcohol at the
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  Speaker 2: BWS at Bakewell and then they'll go straight into Woolies
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  Speaker 2: and buy the incidentals. So then we've lost the sales
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  Speaker 2: from the groceries from the IgA. So the flow on
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  Speaker 2: effect is not just alcohol. And imagine if you didn't
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  Speaker 2: have imagine if the ida's all in Alice Springs closed. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: they're under this thrill will worse is not Cole's trade
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  Speaker 2: is so great that they are nowhere near reaching their caps.
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  Speaker 1: Shelly, can I ask. We spoke to the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 1: on the show yesterday and she's sort of flagged that
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  Speaker 1: they're looking at everything when it comes to you know
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  Speaker 1: two alcohol in the Northern Terrace right now? What do
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  Speaker 1: you think about this discussion that some people have sort
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  Speaker 1: of started to have about liquor buybacks or licensed buybacks
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  Speaker 1: for some of the corner stores that have got the
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  Speaker 1: liquor out Lett.
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  Speaker 2: It's definitely a conversation that some people may be interested
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  Speaker 2: in having. It would totally depends on what they're going
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  Speaker 2: to buy back the liquor license for. And I have
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  Speaker 2: that conversation with people, but unfortunately, because of the size
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  Speaker 2: of our store, it's not something that we would personally
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  Speaker 2: be interested in because we are operating like a major supermarket.
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  Speaker 2: It's a model that the Big two used right across
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  Speaker 2: the country and it's not uncommon to have liquor next
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  Speaker 2: door to groceries. In fact, it's even promoting consuming food
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  Speaker 2: at the same time you're drinking alcohol.
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  Speaker 1: Can I ask, so, at this point in time, are
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  Speaker 1: you calling on the liquor commute to review the calculation
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  Speaker 1: of grog sales. I know that they had that review going.
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  Speaker 1: I think it ended. Submissions ended at the end of February,
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  Speaker 1: if I recall correctly. But what exactly do you want
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  Speaker 1: to see here?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that is currently a review. I would like
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  Speaker 2: to see the twenty five percent cap listed. We run
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  Speaker 2: a very legitimate store and I can and this model
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  Speaker 2: is not working, so it doesn't allow businesses to grow.
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  Speaker 2: We're being penalized by growing. Our area is growing. I
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  Speaker 2: can't make people buy more from the IgA. We have
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  Speaker 2: fifteen thousand items in the IDA and about two thousand
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  Speaker 2: items in the bottle shop. The bottle shop is auxillery
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  Speaker 2: to our grocery offering, but the way it's measured when
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  Speaker 2: you're comparing a fifty dollars carton of bierut to a
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  Speaker 2: couple of cartons of milk. The twenty five percent rule,
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  Speaker 2: which is purely on turnover. And I'll give you the
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  Speaker 2: example of if you've bought a case of beer in
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  Speaker 2: the bottle shop for fifty dollars, you need to spend
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty dollars in the IgA to offset
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  Speaker 2: that purchase to make us a viable business, to ensure
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  Speaker 2: we are working within the law.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Shelley, I think you've probably given a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people a bit of food for thought this morning on
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  Speaker 1: exactly how it works, and giving us a bit of
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  Speaker 1: a better understanding of how exactly it works, because for
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  Speaker 1: a lot of us, you know, we've got no idea
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  Speaker 1: and this.
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  Speaker 2: Is the thing. And can I just leave you with
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  Speaker 2: a really quick example. We're obviously a bit of a
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  Speaker 2: standalone stool. We don't and we don't have liquor outlets
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  Speaker 2: really close to us. But if we look at Darwin City,
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  Speaker 2: there are seven outlets that sell takeaway liquor. Only two
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  Speaker 2: are bound by this twenty five percent rule. One is
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  Speaker 2: Liquor Lands in the Mitchell Center and the other one
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  Speaker 2: is the or the Old Ida or Darwin Supermarket, not too,
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  Speaker 2: just across the road from mixed there. So the only
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: people that are facing closure that could are the little
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  Speaker 2: supermarkets there. And if I give you an example, if
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  Speaker 2: their sales were well, let's give you an example of
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  Speaker 2: wool Worth. First they'd turnover would be a million dollars,
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  Speaker 2: So if they were under the same rule, they could
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  Speaker 2: sell two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of alcohol.
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  Speaker 2: But they're not under this rule, so they can sell
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  Speaker 2: as much as they want. But cold if they were
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  Speaker 2: selling the same sort of volume of groceries, and they're
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  Speaker 2: probably not because they're not as busy as the woolies.
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  Speaker 2: But let's say they're five hundred thousand a week, they
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  Speaker 2: could sell one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars worth
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  Speaker 2: of alcohol. The little doll And supermarket sells fifty thousand
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  Speaker 2: dollars worth of groceries a week. That means they can
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  Speaker 2: sell twelve and a half thousand dollars worth of alcohol.
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  Speaker 2: What they are putting into the community is not the problem,
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  Speaker 2: and they are facing fines and possible closure. This is
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  Speaker 2: the end of supermarket small business in the territory and
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: it's really hard to take when the big guys are
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  Speaker 2: thriving well.
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  Speaker 1: Shelley, thank you very much for having a chat with
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  Speaker 1: us this morning. The phone lines have started to light up,
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  Speaker 1: so I'm not too sure you know exactly what people
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  Speaker 1: will think of this. They're probably hearing it for the
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  Speaker 1: first time. I really appreciate you having a chat with
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: us this morning, and no doubt we'll talk to you
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  Speaker 1: again very soon.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. I appreciate you allowing me to just educate
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: people on the struggles that small businesses facing.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks Shelley, we appreciate it.