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Canadian Club fans vow to stop Centre closure

A tourism board and the city mayor have joined a group of whisky fans to protest the closure of Beam Suntory’s Canadian Club Brand Centre in Windsor, Ontario.

The Canadian Club Brand Centre, from the campaign group’s Facebook page

The multinational drinks group announced last week the Centre is to close as it “refocuses” investments elsewhere, according to CTV reports.

Now a group of local whisky fans, backed by Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island and city mayor Drew Dilkens, have started an online campaign calling for the site, which dates back to 1894, to remain open.

The group, led by local advertising agency Tango Creative, has set up a website and Facebook page, and is using Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #SaveTheBrandCentre, to protest the developments.

Public tours at the Centre will stop being offered from 31 March, with the site closing for events from 31 December 2017.

In addition to carrying Canadian Club information, the Brand Centre also acts as a whisky and Prohibition museum and is used for weddings and corporate functions.

According to The Windsor Star, Dilkens will meet with Beam Suntory executives in Chicago today [13 February] to discuss the closure.

“To see a company come in and say, ‘We’re going to close the brand centre, that history is not that important to us,’ that bothers me,” Dilkens told the news publication. “Everyone here knows how important that history is to our community.

“It’s unconscionable to me how you could continue to develop a brand by giving up on the home where it was founded.”

The campaign’s Facebook group reads: “There are very few places that embody the heritage, history and spirit of our region quite like the Canadian Club Brand Centre. If you’ve ever visited this remarkable museum, you can appreciate its importance as a local destination which needs to be accessible to the public.”

At the time of writing the group had attracted almost 900 ‘likes’,

The Spirits Business has approached Beam Suntory for comment.

Canadian Club volume sales climbed 2.65% in the 2015 calendar year, according to Brand Champions figures.

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