It was mid-March The Municipal Council in Skaun decided to grant a temporary permit for the sale of liquor to the Best Børsa petrol station in Trøndelag.
Then came the result Stopped by the state administrator, he thought the decision was invalid. Liquor is not allowed at petrol stations or kiosks in Norway.
Now the Municipal Council in Skaun has given permission to Best Børsa to sell liquor again. The decision was made at a municipal meeting on Thursday.
Today, driver Derje Lillesand can start selling beer.
Beer Sale: At 3pm on Friday, driver Derje Lillesent put the last load in the fridge. Already ten minutes later, the first customer was in place.
Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / NRK
Appears to shop
– I think it’s very good. The industry has been waiting for this for a long time, says Lillesand.
At 3pm on Friday, he finished putting the beer in the fridge. The first customer arrived ten minutes later.
– Now we hope it will not stop again. I hope it lasts, says Lillesand.
The reason why Best Børsa is now allowed to sell wine is because of the opinion on the terms of the liquor. It says that if the kiosk or gas station appears to be a grocery store, they can get a license to sell alcohol.
– We believe that what used to be a pure petrol station looks like a grocery store. We hope there is room to grant permission then.
The village’s only grocery store will be closed until mid-November due to the redesign. Until then, the gas station is the shop, the mayor says.
– He says this is the time limit for which we have no other store in Porsche.
The last time a state administrator put a stop to plans to put beer in the role of petrol. At this time, the state executive has no opinion on the decision.
Time limit: Permission will be obtained for the petrol station until the village shop is reopened
Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / NRK
– Good for competition
The Norwegian Competition Commission believes that petrol stations such as Best Børsa should be allowed to sell liquor. Not because of alcohol policy, but because of the competitive environment. This is what acting director Pete Perffort says.
– When it comes to competition rules in general terms, we think allowing liquor sales at petrol stations would be conducive to competition in the grocery market. That’s our concern here, he says.
This is especially true in places with long distances between grocery stores.
– We think buying beer or other liquor at a gas station is good for consumers and will sharpen competition in the grocery market, says Perfjord.
Competition: The Norwegian Competition Commission considers it a good idea for petrol stations to sell beer on par with Best Børsa grocery stores.
Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / NRK
It will become more and more like a shop
Perford points out that there are grocery stores with petrol pumps in many places in Norway. In recent decades, petrol stations have become like shops.
– That begs the question of how big the difference is between being a petrol station that is not allowed to sell alcohol, he says.
– There is a risk of making a difference in the match, and it may discriminate between players who were real competitors.
He also points out that the grocery market is constantly changing.
– A petrol station is very different now than it was a few decades ago. If so, we think it is not unnatural to imagine that people will use the local petrol station as their convenience store.
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