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The auction of the first five SLGA permits raised more than $5 million for the provincial government.
Last October, the province announced it would close the last 34 SLGA liquor stores by March 31 and auction off the permits. On Wednesday, the auction for permits in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Watrous and Carlyle entered its last day.
Before 10:30 a.m., bids were going up slowly, with the highest sitting at $450,100 for the Regina permit and the bid for Carlyle permit the lowest at just $56,200.
As the clock passed 1:30 p.m., the bids started coming in faster and the amounts got higher. By 2 p.m., all of the top bids had at least doubled.
While the auctions were set to close at 2 p.m., the deadlines were extended until bidding closed.
The Carlyle permit was first to finish, coming in at $450,000.
The Saskatoon and Regina permits were next, adding another nearly 45 minutes of bidding to the auction. The Regina permit had a top bid of $1,425,000, while the Saskatoon permit went for $1,255,800.
Bidding on the Watrous permit closed just before 3 p.m. at $724,500.
The Prince Albert permit went last, shortly after 3 p.m., coming in at $1,400,000 after the biggest jump of the day.
The successful bidders will have to go through the SLGA’s permitting process and meet specific criteria, and stores will have to open within 18 months.
If all the top bids go through, this lot of liquor permits made the provincial government more than $5 million. Combined, there were nearly 1,000 bids placed for the permits.
There are five more lots of permits to be auctioned, with the next lot ending Thursday afternoon.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick.