A look inside Sobr Market, Canada’s biggest non-alcoholic bottle shop

It’s 1,600 square feet of zero-proof beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails

By Liisa Ladouceur| Photography by Nicole and Bagol

| May 28, 2024

A look inside Sobr Market, Canada's biggest non-alcoholic bottle shop

At first glance, this brand-new two-level bottle shop on Richmond Street West looks like a boutique LCBO, with colourful bottles and cans of beer, wine, spirits and cocktails lining the shelves. The only difference is that there’s no booze in any of them.

Instead, at Sobr Market, all of the drinks for sale are zero-proof. At 1,600 square feet, it’s the largest non-alcoholic bottle shop in Canada, and it’s stocked with a cornucopia of options for anyone who is abstaining. There’s beer, aperitivi imported from Italy, a whole wall of rosé, and a wide selection of low-cal ready-to-drink mocktails and functional beverages backed by celebs like Bella Hadid (Kin Euphorics) and Zayn Malik (Mixoloshe). “The first response we get when people walk in is always, ‘I can’t believe there’s so much stuff!’” says Taycia Chaplin, Sobr’s co-CEO.

Sobr Market co-CEO Taycia Chaplin — “I always have a bottle of non-alcoholic wine in my house,” says Chaplin. “I still drink alcohol, but in moderation. During the week, do I want to have a glass of alcoholic wine every night? Not really. But I can have a glass of zero-proof wine and still enjoy that ritual, that relaxing habit, without having a hangover the next day”

Sobr opened in late April after a successful pop-up last fall. It took over the space in the historic Waterworks Building that was previously home to Beatrice Society, a wellness-focused café and bar where Chaplin and John Baker of (Boxcar Social) first connected with Shane and Jessie Halliburton, co-founders of Sobr Market in Winnipeg. They all recognized the need for more and better non-alcoholic products—in other words, not just Perrier or super-sugary mocktails—as well as for education. That’s why there’s a stocked bar where customers can sidle up to learn about what’s on offer and sample the drinks. Hot tip: Wine Wednesday means a free glass of wine.

“We offer taste-testing because it’s important to us that people leave with something they really like,” says Chaplin. “There’s a lot of variety in flavour profiles, and people need to try a bunch to see what they enjoy—so we let them.”

There are more than 500 products at Sobr Market’s flagship Richmond Street location—and none of them are Perrier. Take a look around.