The Beer Store (TBS) officially announced the pending closure of its location at 15 Hops Dr. in Haliburton, with grocery stores trying to figure out what their role will be with empties.
A spokesperson for The Beer Store confirmed the closure for Jan. 11, 2026 in an email to The Highlander Nov. 17, sending a press release issued Nov. 13.
“We are making the difficult decision to close the Haliburton Beer Store. We know this is disappointing news for staff, customers, and the local community. This decision reflects specific local circumstances,” Ozzie Ahmed, VP Retail TBS said. He did not elaborate on “local circumstances.”
He said they would remain open until end of the day Jan. 11, including accepting empties.
“We want to thank customers for their patronage in Haliburton. The Beer Store recognizes the contributions our employees make to the business and in the communities where we operate. All efforts will be made to support employees through this process in alignment with commitments and agreements.”
We asked how many employees work at the Haliburton location and had not received an answer as of press time. We attempted to reach out to an employee, however received an email from The Beer Store stating, “staff at retail locations are not spokespeople for the organization, although awesome ambassadors for the organization.”
Grocery stores must accept empties in new year
The Highlander emailed The Beer Store last month asking about a pending closure, and were told Oct. 14 “out of respect for customers and staff, we do not comment or speculate about future changes to our retail network. If a decision is made to close a store, out of respect, the first people to know are our employees.”
Haliburton’s is the latest in a long line of stores that have been closed since the beginning of 2025.
One person commented on Facebook, “I can’t wait to flood the first grocery store with my empties.”
Ahmed noted all grocery stores that sell alcohol will be required to accept the return of empties and refund customer deposits starting Jan. 1, 2026.
The Highlander reached out to Steve Todd at Todd’s Your Independent Grocer Haliburton and Brad Park at Haliburton Foodland. Both are on vacation this week, and were unavailable to comment. However, The Highlander has learned that both stores are trying to figure out what to do about empties.
Meanwhile, Environmental Defence senior program manager, plastics, Karen Wirsig welcomed the news that Ontario grocery stores selling alcohol must start accepting empties.
She said, “we are pleased to learn, one year after the expansion of alcohol sales in grocery and convenience stores went into effect, that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is enforcing the requirement for certain grocery stores to accept empties as part of the deposit-return program for alcoholic beverages. This is essential for saving the program.”
She added the Ontario deposit-return program (ODRP) was at risk of collapse due to the closure of Beer Store locations. By the end of the year, The Beer Store will have closed about 100 outlets.
The Highlander spoke with Beer Store shoppers Nov. 17. One man, who declined to give his name, said, “I think it will affect a lot of people because if the grocery stores can’t take the empties, they have to give back their licence, which only leaves us with (convenience stores).”
He said he would buy his beer somewhere in town after Jan. 11 as he won’t drive out-of-town to get it.
“It’s too bad and there are jobs, too.”
Employee Shannon Stinson, on social media Nov. 15, wrote “the rumours are true. The Haliburton Beer Store will be closing Jan. 11, 2026. I would like to thank everyone for the years of support.”
What to do with your empties
• The Beer Store has launched a new empty return locator to find another Beer Store or alternative retailer that is accepting empties. They are on The Beer Store’s website. In the navigation bar select ‘returning empties’. Then, select ‘where to return empties’.
• To find the closest Beer Store location, go to www.thebeerstore.ca/locations.
• To find an alternative beer retailer, use the province’s website locator at: where to buy alcoholic beverages.
