Revelstoke liquor store customers shocked when bear wanders in

Customers at a Revelstoke liquor store got a bit more than they bargained Monday night when a black bear wandered in.

“The bear came barreling down the street and did a right turn, right into my store,” Claudio Brunetti, owner of the Last Call Liquor Store, says. "He came in for a stroll. We had a couple of customers in here and they freaked out. The bear did an 180 and strolled out.”

Brunetti says he has been keeping the front door open due to the hot weather to keep the airflow circulating, but he never expected a bear to stroll in Monday night, Aug. 24.

Neither did his customers.

“There was one guy from Europe, and he’s never seen a bear. He was at the till and it was like five feet away from him … I was ringing his beer in and he freaked right out because the bear was staring at him,” Brunetti says. “He was holding onto his heart and saying, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, I’ve never seen a bear.’ I was like, ‘Well there you go, now you’ve seen a bear.’”

Brunetti says the bear wasn't in the story long. It came in the front door, walked down an aisle in the store, turned around and went right back out.

He didn’t call the conservation officer service about the bear.

“We get lots of bears here. I’ve seen them walk down the street at night. It’s just that this guy decided to come in for a stroll… it’s Last Call Liquor Store, so he was in a hurry,” Brunetti says.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.