Chinook Liquor

This morning represents the first and last time I have ever shopped at Chinook Liquor. I decided after a busy week that I would buy a few beers to consume over the course of this long weekend. After entering the store and saying hi to the cashier (a man who appeared to be in his 60s), I entered the beer fridge and walked around deciding upon which beer to buy. After about 7 minutes by myself, the door suddenly swung upon, and the cashier aggressively approached me. He claimed that he couldn’t understand why I was in the fridge for so long, and that upon watching me for a few minutes he criticized me for taking a long time to decide upon my purchase. I told him that I was trying to decide which beer to buy and needed some time to deliberate. He said that my time was essentially over in the fridge, to which I replied «I didn’t realize there was a time limit». I reluctantly selected and purchased a six-​pack, and then left in disgust. Had I more time to drive somewhere else, I would have bought my beer there. In my nine years of purchasing alcohol, never have I been treated with such disrespect in a liquor establishment for doing nothing wrong. I am on a strict budget and simply wanted to take some time to decide before buying alcohol. In other liquor stores, employees have respectfully approached me in beer fridges after spending a few minutes reviewing the selection, and after I said «no thanks, I’m just looking», I was politely left alone. Please be assured that I will NEVER return to your liquor store again, and I will also take advantage of my social network to discuss how I was treated with such rudeness for taking a few minutes to decide upon my purchase! I am not sure what the other employees are like in this store, given that this has been my only time in there, so I cannot generalize what the rest of the staff are like. However, this only particular cashier (the only one working there this morning) has ensured I will never give this store my business again. I am so sick and tired with being treated with Orwellian discontent by employees who creepily watch what I am doing. If any place wants my business again, treat me with respect and do not spy on me!

While this store is close to my headquarters of awesome (My home) it still is an overpriced joke. A bottle of rye is 21.99 for the cheap brand. The same bottle is 15.99 at RB. If you’re willing to drive an extra 5 minutes, go to RB’s near what was formally the French Maid.

Review #24 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012
Living really close to Chinook liquor, I often buy alcohol from here but if given the choice, I would rather go somewhere else because:
— I find that everything seems to be more expensive than everywhere else. We were buying Patron for a friend and were surprised that it’s at least 5 bucks more expensive.
— if you don’t know what to get and thought about just asking someone at the liquor store, don’t come here. Most of the time, there’s only one person who never bothers to ask if you need any help.
— I don’t get how their wines are organized
One thing to like is that if you run out of beer late at night on Friday and Saturday, you can run to this location — Last I checked they’re open til 2am on both days.

I was needing to pick up a couple of things and happened to be just down the street so I figured why not? Parking is fairly ample. The store itself isn’t a bad size — it’s a little small but what you’d expect for a strip mall.
The prices seemed high, though, especially for wine. I noticed several bottles where the prices are $ 5+ less elsewhere. Since I was in a time crunch, I just purchased what I needed anyway, but I likely wouldn’t go back unless I was desperate.
Review #29 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

While this store looks small From the outside they actually have a pretty fair selection of beer and spirits. The beer cooler is quite large for the size of the store and they fill every space available with different types of beer. This should provide the right flavor for most differing tastes in your party. If vodka, rum or other types of hard liquor are your things then they have a not bad selection for you to choose from. The wine selection is smaller but still enough available to find something to take to a dinner party or enjoy at home in a pinch.
The staff has always been more than helpful and friendly to me. They often carry the beer to my car for me when I’m alone. It’s next to salt and pepper Mexican restaurant.