Booze-free 'liquor' stores offer options, as some B.C. craft brewers decline and fall

Whatever your tipple, Angela Hansen's liquor store on Vancouver's Commercial Drive has stock to satisfy, from Prosecco to tequila — so long as you don't want any actual liquor.

Whatever your tipple, Angela Hansen's liquor store on Vancouver's Commercial Drive has stock to satisfy, from Prosecco to tequila — so long as you don't want any actual liquor.

Hansen's "alcohol free liquor store" Mocktails opened last March, and just a few days into the new year, she was anticipating a "boom" for her business.

"Dry January, I think is gonna be a big thing for the alcohol-free world," she said, referring to the global movement to cut back on alcohol this month. "Some people are begrudgingly doing it, and others are very, very enthusiastic to do it, and they're excited that they have this. You don't have to do Dry January with a Coca-Cola or something like that."

It's not the only business catering to the market — just a block away is The Drive Canteen, a snack-bar that offers "sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages" in its store. In Port Coquitlam, B.C., there's Bevees, a "booze-free bottle shop" that opened in November 2023.

The rise of stores like Mocktails and others comes as health concerns around alcohol rise — and as British Columbia's once-booming craft beer industry goes through tough times. A series of high-profile brewers have closed down or are in financial strife; many cite economic conditions as well as a shift in drinking preferences.

It's unclear whether greater awareness of health risks associated with alcohol are reducing demand, but the rise of booze-free options offer alternatives to those seeking to cut back after an alcohol-fuelled holiday season.

"We're coming out of December, which is like the heaviest drinking month of the year for most people," said Dr. Tim Naimi, director of the University of Victoria's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.