La Ronge liquor permit sells for $3.27M; believed to be highest bid yet in auctions

By Derek Cornet

The auction for the SLGA liquor permit for La Ronge closed Thursday at a whopping $3.27 million.

The auction was due to end at 2 p.m., but a bidding war continued for more than an hour. It was finally won by a purchaser with the user name LakesideSpirits at 3:21 p.m. There were a total of 125 bids.

It’s still unclear who exactly purchased the liquor permit as the legal owner is not specified in the online auction details. The bid is believed to be the highest yet paid for a permit in the provincial auctions.

Permits in previous auctions fetched $1.45 million for a lot in Regina, $1.4 million for one in Prince Albert, $1.25 million for one in Saskatoon and $1.165 million in Moose Jaw. Other permits sold for less than $1 million in other smaller communities.

Among the other permits available Thursday, the one in Saskatoon sold for more than $1.65 million, the one in Regina went for more than $1.5 million, and the one in Humboldt earned more than $720,000.

As of 4:30 p.m., the permits in North Battleford and Weyburn were still up for grabs. The bid for the permit in North Battleford was at $1,410,000, while the bid in Weyburn stood at $1.06 million.

In October, the provincial government announced it would close the last 34 SLGA liquor stores by March 31 and auction off the permits. The successful bidders will have to go through the SLGA’s permitting process and meet specific criteria, and stores will have to open within 18 months.

The first three auctions earned more than $18 million. The last auction is to wrap up Friday.

“I think we are just really curious to see who won the bid (in La Ronge), so time will tell,” said La Ronge and District Chamber of Commerce vice-president Karla Hardcastle.

She watched the bidding online and explained there must have been a lot of interest in the La Ronge permit as people must have seen a potential for profit.

It’s also unknown if the Town of La Ronge was involved in winning the bid. While administration was authorized to spend up to $1.25 million in the auction, there was room in the resolution passed last week for the municipality to partner with a public or private organization if approached.

“From the Chamber of Commerce’s perspective, we would be really excited to see another new private business investing in our area and having a new privately-run business in operation,” Hardcastle said.

“We are definitely not in favour of the Town of La Ronge operating a municipally owned and operated liquor store in the community. We fully support the business community growing and having another private businessperson is what we are hoping for.”

— With files from 980 CJME