Ontario. Although prohibition had proven to be unsuccessful, the provincial government still needed to placate angry temperance advocates and agreed that beer would be sold through a single network of stores. However, the government did not want to operate this network itself (as was done in some other Canadian provinces), and so permitted brewers to organize the Brewers Warehousing Company Ltd., which later became Brewers Retail/The Beer Store. The Beer Store today Operating Model & Pricing Market The Beer Store claims that it operates on a self-sustaining basis as an efficient distributor and retailer of beer in the Province of Ontario. Operations take place on a fee for service basis, requiring brewers to pay a fee to sell their products through the Beer Store. The Beer Store publishes an annual rate sheet outlining their necessary financial requirements and consistency with annual budget and business plans. The open nature of the Beer Store combined with pricing freedom for individual brewers is claimed to have created a highly competitive beer pricing market. The Beer Store processes hundreds of price changes every month and the average retail selling price in the system has only increased 2.8% from 2003 to 2014 while the general rate of Ontario inflation over the same period was approximately 20%. Ontario's uniform pricing regulation precludes price competition between beer retailers such as the LCBO and the Beer Store. Price competition between individual brewers and brands within the Beer Store system is claimed to be significant, but there is little real competition as there is little variance in price both over time and between brands of similar quality. The system does benefit remote areas in that lower-priced products are not restricted to larger outlets in urban centers, but are available at all Beer Store locations throughout the province. Hence rural consumers benefit as much (or as little) as urban consumers. Estimated profits The Beer Store states it operates as a not-for-profit entity. While this may be true, critics have argued that the TBS system is structured to support relatively high prices and profits of the breweries and the detriment of consumers. A series of studies, authored or co-authored by professor Anindya Sen of the University of Waterloo, estimated that the near-monopoly the Beer Store has in Ontario allows its owners to capture between $450 to $630 million in “additional profits” each year. The first of the Sen studies was commissioned