Some northern New Brunswickers won't be able to buy tax-free beer this long weekend after an electrical fire burnt down a store in Quebec.

Many New Brunswickers said they would take the trip to the Listiguj First Nation, across the border from Campbellton, to buy discounted beer. But earlier this week an electrical fire took out the Restigouche Drive-Through.

The Restigouche Drive-Through sold tax free-beer to status Indians.

With a long weekend coming up Allison Metallic, owner of the store, said the place had been stocked up for peak season.

No one was injured, but about 300,000 to 400,000 bottles of beer were destroyed.

"We could actually hear the crackling on the floor, so we knew that there was a fire or something. And we immediately evacuated the whole building and not even in 10 minutes, the place was just full of smoke," said Metallic, who has owned the store for the last 25 years.

Customers from as far as Bathurst and Moncton would drive over the J.C. Van Horne bridge to get away from New Brunswick's alcohol taxes.

"It's the price-wise, you get more beer for you money. I guess, it's the prices that do a lot of damage over here on the New Brunswick side," said Terry Rose.

Matthew Metallic, the manager, said he's optimistic customers like Rose will return.

"There's nothing really we could do. I feel pretty bad about it, but all we can do is rebuild, and we will," he said.

In the meantime, the store hopes to have refrigerator trucks in business next week.