SLGA cyberattack opens door for local distributors, suppliers to expand selection

When one door closes, another one opens.

That age-old term became a reality for Urban Cellars recently. The private retailer’s distributor in the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) had a cyber security incident on Christmas Day, eliminating the ability to order supply.

As one of the private retailers in the province, Urban Cellars isn’t tied to selling specific products or a percentage of locally sourced or SLGA supplied products.

As the supply slowly began to dwindle, Urban Cellars district manager Sherry Halvorson turned to local suppliers to fill the void.

“Even though SLGA couldn’t supply a lot of the products due to the cyberattack, once again it gave us the opportunity to work even closer with our local suppliers and bring in even more of their product,” she said.

“I would say we probably increased our purchasing from local suppliers probably anywhere from three to four times the amount we normally order every week. So it was a win for the local supplier during this cyberattack.”

Urban Cellars just started getting its SLGA deliveries back this week. Halvorson said she was able to order the top 50 items from SLGA, which kept the store afloat. She also added the size of her stores put Urban Cellars in a better position as alcohol went dry across Saskatchewan.

But it isn’t a never-ending supply.

“We are definitely feeling the pinch now that we’re going into, I think, week three or four here,” she said.

Prior to the cyberattack, SLGA had brought in 90 per cent of supply, according to Halvorson. The remaining 10 per cent was sourced from local breweries and distilleries.

“Now I have brought on some new local products in the meantime and working with different distilleries from around the province. So now when you look at Urban Cellars, you’re going to see SLGA probably going down to about 85 per cent and 15 per cent are local — and that continues to grow every day,” she explained.

“It has kind of been a win-win for local producers and ourselves.”

The pinch is still currently being felt, even though normal deliveries have begun in the province, said Halvorson. She isn’t sure when normal operations with normal stock will be back, but it isn’t going to be a fix by the end of the week.

“The amount that the stores are going to need to bring in to get them back to where they were before the cyberattack is going to take several orders to get the stores back in shape,” she said.

The local vendors Halvorson highlighted were Lucky Bastard Distilleries, Sperling Silver Distillery, 9 Mile Brewing, District Brewing and Rebellion Brewing. Halvorson said these relationships weren’t new, but the expansion for products on the shelf is.

“These are all local vendors that we have dealt with forever and a day since we opened. But now it gave us the opportunity to expand their shelf space because we had that opportunity with the cyberattack,” she explained.

“I have no plans on tightening that up on them at all.”