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Coming soon to a dep near you Shoppers and others strolling through the streets of Montreal last Saturday afternoon may have noticed an airplane flying a banner which featured the cryptic message "Oh dey pahneur." Read it phonetically: the banner was in fact announcing that Heineken beer is now available "Au dépanneur." Heineken is not the only imported beer now available at the dep. Beer lovers can now run to the corner in their jammies and pick up a sixpack of Guinness, Smithwick's and about 15 others. Previously, these well-known brands were available only through the government-owned Société des alcools. And that was precisely the problem. For popular brands, the SAQ's 340 outlets simply cannot compete with the province's network of 12,000 grocery stores and dépanneurs. SAQ spokesperson Bernard Duchesne says the loss of Heineken and the others is just par for the course. "This has happened before, so we don't worry about it much," says Duchesne. "Beer makes up only two per cent of our revenue. We serve a niche market for people who consider themselves beer enthusiasts." Meanwhile, the SAQ has introduced a number of new brands of its own this week, including Athenian Brewery's Marathon: The Blonde Beer of Greece--sure to be a hit with the city's Hellenic community. --Philip Preville
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