OUR STORY
About Santé Dry Bottle Shop
HOW IT STARTED
A personal frustration, and a gap nobody had filled.
If you have ever swung by Crossroads Market, you may have heard the story. Having worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade, followed by a few years in liquor retail, I knew my way around a bottle. When my wife became pregnant and stopped drinking, I brought home some non-alcoholic wine and beer so we could keep up with our rituals together.
Finding anything worth drinking was harder than it should have been, and finding someone who actually cared enough to guide me through the limited selection was harder still. Most stores carried a small handful of non-alcoholic drinks that felt like an afterthought, and staff in liquor stores were not particularly interested, after all, they are a liquor store, and non-alcoholic drinks are not their focus.
That sent me down a rabbit hole. Researching the category, tasting everything I could find, trying to understand why Calgary had nothing dedicated to this. The more I tasted, the more I realised how much good stuff existed, and how completely inaccessible it was for most people.
"I don't think you should have to walk into a liquor store to buy non-alcoholic drinks. You don't go to a butcher to buy tofu, after all."
WHY SANTÉ EXISTS
Alberta's first dedicated non-alcoholic bottle shop.
Liquor stores have expanded their non-alcoholic offerings, and you can order online from a handful of places, but what was missing was a dedicated space in Calgary. Somewhere with a proper selection, knowledgeable staff, and no pressure.
Santé Dry Bottle Shop opened in 2023 as Alberta's first retail store dedicated exclusively to non-alcoholic drinks, inside Crossroads Market in Calgary. Every product on our shelves has been tasted and assessed before it gets anywhere near our guests. If we do not think it is worth drinking, it does not make the cut. That is not a marketing line, and is genuinely how we work.
We source from local Canadian producers, from craft breweries and winemakers across the country, and from producers abroad who are doing exceptional work in this category. The non-alcoholic drinks world has grown significantly in the last few years, and the quality available today is something most people have not discovered yet. Part of what we do is close that gap.
Every bottle on our shelves has earned its place. If you are not sure where to start, that is exactly what we are here for. Come visit us at Crossroads Market and we will point you in the right direction.