Okay Toronto, this time it’s personal. The LCBO has announced that seven stores will close for the duration of the G20 weekend.
Chris Layton, spokesperson for the provincial liquor retailer, said the decision was made “in deference to the safety of customers and staff.” Mr. Layton also said they expect major traffic delays in the downtown core due to the security perimeter, and do not want their customers to add to the congestion.
Employees from the affected stores are being redeployed to other LCBOs and Mr. Layton expects business in the rest of the city to be booming.
“I expect that the other stores will more than make up for the fact that some stores will be closed,” he said. “We’re also advising people to shop early, in advance of the weekend.”
The affected stores are all located near the security perimeter surrounding the G20 site, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. One of the stores, the LCBO at King Street West and Spadina Avenue, was featured in a video posted on YouTube last month by a group of Montreal demonstrators. The video showed various Toronto landmarks including the LCBO store, the Hockey Hall of Fame and several banks, followed by their locations, which were marked on a map of Toronto with a skull and crossbones.
Mr. Layton said no decision has yet been made about whether the stores will be boarded up, in anticipation of vandalism or violent protest in the area.
“That will be determined by individual locations,” he said. “It’ll depend. But ideally, no.”
The following downtown Toronto LCBO stores will be closed Friday, June 25 through Sunday, June 27 during the G20 Summit:
• Queens Quay, 2 Cooper Street
• First Canadian Place
• Union Station
• St. Lawrence Market, 87 Front Street West
• Loblaws Plaza, 10 Lower Jarvis Street at Queens Quay
• 415 King Street West at Spadina Avenue
• 337 Spadina Avenue, north of Dundas at Baldwin Street
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