The Fight Over Wine in Grocery Stores
The front line of Connecticut’s latest alcohol policy debate is a strip mall just off the interstate here, where shoppers entering Geissler’s Supermarket and nearby Kaman’s Fine Wine and Liquors are greeted by signs urging them to take sides.
On one end of the fight, grocers such as Geissler’s have launched a campaign this year to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores, a practice that is already legal in most states. They argue that putting wine alongside the beer already on their shelves will make things more convenient for customers who can grab a bottle along with their groceries. It will also boost sales in a low-margin business.
Their rival package stores, such as Kaman’s, say they will lose revenue and, in some instances, be forced to cut staff or close down. In Connecticut, so-called package stores are the only places that can sell wine and liquor. The stores and their advocates have framed the issue as big chains plowing under smaller businesses that are still often family run.
I recently visited both stores in East Windsor Connecticut and wrote about the issue for The Wall Street Journal. The fight over wine sales engulfed the New England state, where hundreds of people packed a hearing this month at the state Capitol. It also highlights a push by several states to expand access to booze by changing alcohol regulations—some of which date to the end of Prohibition—that were suspended in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Maryland, lawmakers held hearings last week on a bill that would let food stores buy out the liquor license of a nearby package store, and let the food store apply for a liquor license if the package store doesn’t agree to a sale at fair market value. Voters in Colorado narrowly approved a referendum last year that legalized the sale of wine in grocery stores starting in March.
Patrick Maroney, a consultant and former director of that state’s Liquor Enforcement Division, said many states changed their laws in the last decade to encourage the growth of craft beverages, but old restrictions are getting a new look since Covid.
It’s unclear whether the issue will be a big one this year in New York. Former Gov. David Paterson proposed the sale of wine in grocery stores as part of his 2009 and 2010 budgets, sparking a multi-million-dollar advertising and lobbying campaign. (Wegman’s, which operates stores that for some reason have a cult-like following, spent $3 million in its own right.) Paterson’s successor didn’t like the idea, so it’s been dormant for nearly a decade.
Gov. Kathy Hochul might be more open to it, and several industry players said they heard talk it would be included in her budget proposal. It was not, but a spokeswoman she is interested in modernizing the state’s alcohol laws and is waiting for a report due in May from a review panel formed last year.
Liquor stores said they are wary of future action in the largest state where grocery stores currently can’t sell wine. “The issue seems to once again be a hot topic,” said Steve Malito, a lobbyist for the Metropolitan Package Store Association. “Mom and pop package stores are girding for a fight to survive.”
THE QUESTION: Which family runs the Market 32 (née Price Chopper) grocery chain, which is headquartered in Schenectady?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: The New York Yankees play at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Albany-Colonie Yankees played at Heritage Park in Colonie. Thanks to everyone who wrote with fun stories about going there – I unfortunately never made it there!