Bhutan Store
In April of 2024, Kunzang Wangdi, owner and operator of Bhutan Store in Osborne Park, reached out to Canford looking for assistance in acquiring a liquor store licence. His business model would be to operate the store as it currently is – selling Bhutanese goods, groceries and a hot food offering.
Bhutan Stores’ niche offering of Bhutanese packaged liquor will exist as it’s own ‘separate’ store within Bhutan Store. This liquor store aims to celebrate and share Bhutanese culture with the people of Perth, and this expansion of their offerings is a welcome addition. Kunzang intends to conduct product launches and tastings to help promote the Bhutanese liquor that he has brought in, further assisting with sharing Bhutanese culture.
Through section 36B4 submissions and substantial witness evidence we were able to prove that people had a requirement to be able to do their weekly Bhutanese grocery and goods shopping, as well as shopping for Bhutanese packaged liquor. As Kunzang was going to be selling exclusively Bhutanese packaged liquor, that is otherwise not found in the locality, or in the wider Perth area, we were able to push ahead with the licence application.
On top of applying for the liquor licence and assisting with a number of Council matters around development approvals, health & food business approvals, we also assisted Kunzang through an objection and document exchange process with the Chief Health Officer (CHO). The main points raised by the CHO surrounded how the liquor store was going to look and feel. In the end we were able to reach an amicable agreement between the Chief Health Officer and Kunzang that satisfied all parties.
Bhutan Store has had their licence conditionally granted, and is set to begin selling Bhutanese liquor in the next couple of weeks. We would like to wish Kunzang all the best with his family business’s future.