Have you ever wished you had a cold beer in hand while you waited for that haircut, or wanted to bring that perfect bottle of wine from home with you to the restaurant?
If the answer is yes, you might soon be in luck.
On Aug. 6 the province announced that all but one of the 77 new liquor regulations announced last fall are now in effect.
There are at least two changes that could have an impact in Humboldt and the surrounding area. First, salons and spas will be eligible to apply for a liquor licence and sell and serve alcohol to any customer purchasing a service, whether it's a haircut, manicure or massage.
The second significant change is that licensed restaurants will now be able to offer Bring Your Own Wine (BYOW) service to their customers.
"These latest changes now in effect will benefit businesses involved in the sale and service of alcohol as well as their customers," said Donna Harpauer, MLA for Humboldt and minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA).
Despite such proclamations, local business owners weren't immediately ready to embrace the new regulations.
"If I was a bit younger, maybe I'd consider it," said Bernie Earis, owner of Seasonal Styles in Humboldt. As she cut a customer's hair, Earis explained that she was close to retirement and wouldn't want to take such a step so late in her career, though she didn't rule out a new owner being open to serving alcohol.
"My clientele is a little bit older," she said. "I'm not sure if many of them would even be interested in that. Besides, I don't really like liquor and I never have."
Other spa owners in Humboldt were either unaware of the new regulations or hadn't given it enough thought yet.
As for the BYOW service, at least one restaurant owner in town is planning to offer it as soon as possible. Steven Krueger, the owner of Chick Allan's, said he would absolutely allow customers to bring their own wine as long as they pay a $25 corkage fee per bottle.
"Otherwise I'm losing out on the money they'd spend on wine here," Krueger explained.
In over three years as owner, Krueger said he's never had a customer ask about bringing their own wine, but it's hard to say if that's because there was no interest or everyone just knew it wasn't allowed.
On the other side of the spectrum is Rick's Place, a more casual restaurant that won't be looking into BYOW.
"That's not gonna factor into my establishment," said owner Rick Cadrain. "I don't do much in the way of liquor sales and what I do sell is mostly beer. My clientele is mostly construction guys, not a lot of wine drinkers."
The only new regulation that hasn't yet gone into effect is the most controversial; it permits licensed establishments to offer both strip teases and wet T-shirt contests. Full-frontal nudity will still not be allowed. While that might seem tame when compared to standards in other provinces, the changes have stirred up a great deal of debate.
The strip tease and wet T-shirt regulation will not come into effect until Jan. 1, 2014, giving municipalities time to enact related bylaws if they choose to do so. Currently Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada that bans full-frontal stripping.
