Well, that was fast.
Loblaw Co. says its buck-a-beer promotion in Ontario is already coming to an end — and in some places it has ended already.
The retailer announced last week it would be offering some of its President's Choice brand beers for one dollar each for a limited time.
The idea was to give "Ontarians the ability to celebrate the last long weekend of the summer with great tasting beer at a great price," a Loblaw spokesperson said in an email.
But at some locations, the promotion won't even last to the long weekend. The spokesperson said there are "reports that we have already run out of existing inventory in some markets."
Canadian Beer News reports that the Beer Store's pricing list shows the President's Choice discounted brands returning to regular price as of Monday, Labour Day.
And then there were two (sort of)
With the President's Choice promotion over, it will be pretty difficult to buy beer at the one-dollar price level that Premier Doug Ford made a part of his election platform.
Barley Days Brewery is selling a limited quantity of its Loon Lager for a dollar each, but it's available at only 11 LCBO locations across the province, according to CBC News. Cool Brewing Company is offering its Cool Lager for a dollar a beer, though only in southern Ontario LCBO locations.
In fact, it's been far more common for Ontario brewers to openly reject the notion of buck-a-beer, with some arguing that they couldn't provide decent wages at that price level.
The introduction of one-dollar beer comes at an inopportune time for some brewers, who are dealing with rising costs due to the 10-per-cent tariff on aluminum that U.S. President Donald Trump introduced in July. For smaller brewers, that has led to longer wait times for can deliveries, as larger companies' orders are prioritized.
"We're using whatever cans we have on hand right now to keep up with demand,'' Matt Gibson, manager of corporate sales and marketing at Nickel Brook Brewing, told The Canadian Press. "If we don't put cans out, we go out of business.''
Some breweries will really struggle over the next couple of months because they'll be unable to get any product out, he predicted.
— With a file from The Canadian Press