7 Star Liquor Store Grand Opening BBQ

7 Star Liquor Store Grand Opening BBQ

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

Sharing a meal is one of the best ways to get acquainted with people. The new business in Vegreville, 7 Star Liquor Store, celebrated their grand opening with a free BBQ on August 24.

7 Star Liquor Store is located east of Vegreville east of District Co-op on 51 Avenue and 49 Street. Two brothers, Many Aulakh from Edmonton and Kamal Aulakh own this store. They were not able to attend the grand opening celebration but Partner, Sukhjit Dhillon from Calgary and Manager, Gary Bedi from Edmonton were available.

This store is open every day Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. They chose the location because they knew the landlord, Frank Hull and Bedi admitted he is the nicest guy he has ever met.

Bedi said he is planning to move to Vegreville in a few months. His wife is a law student in Edmonton. “I have been in the liquor industry managing stores for 11 years and Vegreville is one of the nicest places I have ever seen. The people are very friendly and very close-knit, everyone seems to know everyone here. In the past when we tried to open up a new store in other areas, we had a lot of troubles with theft. In Vegreville, we had no troubles since we opened up this store. There are 7 Star Liquor Stores all over Alberta.”

The Aulakh’s brothers decided to open up this store in Vegreville because they were looking around the town and they noticed there were only a couple of liquor stores around. They are not in competition with any of the other stores, they just want to do their own thing.

The reason they name their company 7 Star is they give their customers 7-star service. They specialize in having the best selection of liquor, the best customer service, and they hold to the principle of giving people the best pricing. They are not a big chain. “We just want to give respect and get respect, and have a good group of loyal customers,” Bedi said. “Our liquor store is also very well laid out and very clean. We have a lock-in cooler which keeps the liquor really cold. We are open to suggestions; if you find something you want, let us know and if it is available in Alberta, we will have it for you,” Bedi said.

These stores normally have a customer appreciation celebration with a free BBQ every year, so they plan to host these in Vegreville too. Everyone is invited whether they shop at the store or not. This is their way of saying thank-you to the community. As well, they plan to slowly get involved with community events and organizations because they really like small towns.