Wine sold in grocery store- whats your opinion?

[luvmy3]

There was a poll in my paper today asking if you oppose wine being sold in grocery stores. Currently my State does not allow it and I was surprised at the answers. The majority said no, but quite a few said they would oppose it. Why would anyone care if a grocery store sold wine? Is there something I'm missing?

 

[bdcp]

In VA it is sold in grocery stores. In MD where we used to live it isn't. It's actually easier to not have to make a special trip to the liquor store, although honestly, most liquor stores in MD were right next door to grocery stores. In VA it's also sold in WalMart, Target, Costco, etc. It's not a big deal. My guess is those that are opposed do not drink and think it's a slippery slope to something. More than likely they are opposed for moral reasons. While we have friends who do not drink due to their beliefs, and we belong to the same faith, they are not opposed to it being available. There will always be those that are so opposed that they think it's should be really difficult to get.

ETA, beer is also sold in grocery stores here but not in MD. I buy my wine at the grocery store. There are a few specialty wine shops around, but not really close to where I live or shop.

 

[HOGFAN]

I can see not selling hard liquor. I dont think wine is any worse than beer so what is the big deal?

 

[cluvsdisney]

The only reason I can see people would oppose it is it would probably hurt independent liquor/wine stores. Large chain stores would be able to buy in larger quantities and sell at a lower cost. It's difficult for the mom & pop stores to compete with that.

 

[Squirlz]

Yes, you are missing the stick

I can't imagine why anyone would care.

 

[tasha99]

That's generally where you buy wine where I live. I like it. It's convenient and it might make for more selection/variety since different stores sell different wines. I don't see any pluses to having to go to a liquor store for wine (or liquor, actually.)

 

[SookieStackhouse]

It wouldn't hurt anything, and it would make shopping more convenient.

 

[Shutterbug]

Heck here you can even buy wine at the corner gas station/convenient store. Not sure how good it would be..

 

[CALIFLADY]

I don't see any pluses to having to go to a liquor store for wine...

Exactly! After living in a US state for years where you could buy beer and wine in the grocery store, having to go to the liquor store (even though it's usually right there in the parking lot of the grocery store) is just a waste of my time up here in Canada. I don't get it.

 

[luvmy3]

The only reason I can see people would oppose it is it would probably hurt independent liquor/wine stores. Large chain stores would be able to buy in larger quantities and sell at a lower cost. It's difficult for the mom & pop stores to compete with that.

I don't think the grocery store could offer the selection of wines that an independent store would.They may be able to carry large quantities of a few wines, but not nearly the amount of specialty wines found in wine stores. There are also beverage centers here that sell beer, soda (no wine or liquor) that don't seem to be effected by the grocery stores selling beer.
I guess I don't see the issue, if you dont drink, or are morally opposed to it, you don't have to buy it, but why care if those who do want it can get it at the grocery store?

 

[LuvLDM]

I find it convenient.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Several years ago I lived in California, and they sold all alchohol in grocery stores there--hard stuff like Tequila and Vodka, wine, beer, etc. All items could be purchased from 6 am -2 am, seven days a week. So just 4 hours a day that you couldn't buy alcohol.

About 4.5 years ago we moved to VA, and here they only sell beer and wine in the groceries...for hard stuff you have to go to a special government run store called ABC. I think they are generally only open from about 10 am-9 pm, or at least the ones I've seen are.

We're not huge drinkers in general, but I have found that now in VA I drink mostly wine, whereas in CA I'd ocassionally buy stuff for mixed drinks and less wine. It's just more convenient to buy wine here in VA since it's right there when I'm buying my other groceries, but if I wanted rum or whiskey or something I'd have to make a special trip to the ABC. I think I've only been in an ABC store twice in the last 4.5 years.

As a child, I grew up in Massachusetts, and I remember it being illegal to buy alchohol on Sundays. Don't know if it's still that way...

 

[Shutterbug]

I don't think the grocery store could offer the selection of wines that an independent store would.

You havent been to my grocery store then
It has aisles of wine and also a seperate wine cave!

 

[luvmy3]

You havent been to my grocery store then
It has aisles of wine and also a seperate wine cave!

Then I'm definitely all for it, thats one way to get dh to do the grocery shopping more often

 

[Reddy]

my town just turned "wet" this past year - the only thing that see that is a problem is that the stores don't carry as much of the other stuff since beer & wine are now on the space they used to have

the convenince stores are really noticable on this - they were made smaller since we didn't use to have it - now coke has fewer coolers so we don't have all of the choices there as before. they lost over half the space they had. The grocery store took out other things to make room for it

 

[minniebeth]

It's difficult for the mom & pop stores to compete with that.

What mom and pop stores?
There are very few independent wine stores around here. Most of the wine and beer we buy is at a grocery store. Liquor is sold separately.
I like the convenience of it, but then again, I'm not a wine connoisseur.

I grew up in NJ with the mom and pop stores and I kind of miss those days.
I was recently in a liquor store with my brother who lives in NJ and was awed by the WHOLE wall of whisky choices. I couldn't believe that many even existed!

I don't see the big deal about wine in the grocery stores, and if anything, they ID more than any liquor store I've ever been in.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

There was a poll in my paper today asking if you oppose wine being sold in grocery stores. Currently my State does not allow it and I was surprised at the answers. The majority said no, but quite a few said they would oppose it. Why would anyone care if a grocery store sold wine? Is there something I'm missing?

Yes, you are missing convenience.

I hated living in TX and having to go to a liquor to buy alcohol.

Here in MO our grocery stores sell wine and hard liquor, mainly the "popular" common stuff. We do cater to wine drinkers here because we have many local wineries here in MO. You can buy booze at a gas station to Walgreens and in between here.

OP, does your Costco, Sam's, or BJ's sell booze? The champagne and wine they carry is pretty top notch.

Now we do have a high end alcohol store called "Friar Tuck's" around here and they do carry very high end & more odd stuff that the grocery stores will not have.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I don't think the grocery store could offer the selection of wines that an independent store would.They may be able to carry large quantities of a few wines, but not nearly the amount of specialty wines found in wine stores. There are also beverage centers here that sell beer, soda (no wine or liquor) that don't seem to be effected by the grocery stores selling beer.
I guess I don't see the issue, if you dont drink, or are morally opposed to it, you don't have to buy it, but why care if those who do want it can get it at the grocery store?

I don't think grocery stores selling wine will put liquor stores out of business but it will hurt their bottom line. I think they will be able to provide a large enough selection to cater to the infrequent/casual wine drinker.

I am thinking about smaller stores in my area - the fruit/vegetable stores closed, the beverage center downsized and moved to a slightly less accessible location, the bakeries closed. I am sure this is mostly due to the economy but when every customer and sale counts, I can see why they would want to keep these places around since they do provide a service or expertise that you can't get at a bigger store. This is an across the board observation -- but a lot hardware stores, book stores, toy stores, pharmacies, etc. have gone out of business b/c they cant compete with larger stores.

 

[luvmy3]

Yes, you are missing convenience.

I hated living in TX and having to go to a liquor to buy alcohol.

Here in MO our grocery stores sell wine and hard liquor, mainly the "popular" common stuff. We do cater to wine drinkers here because we have many local wineries here in MO. You can buy booze at a gas station to Walgreens and in between here.

OP, does your Costco, Sam's, or BJ's sell booze? The champagne and wine they carry is pretty top notch.

Now we do have a high end alcohol store called "Friar Tuck's" around here and they do carry very high end & more odd stuff that the grocery stores will not have.

Tell me about it, I hate having to go to a seperate store if I'm planning a party.

We don't have Costco, and I'm not sure if Sams carries it. I know my BJs doesn't carry alcohol other than beer, but where I grew up the BJs had a seperate little store within the building for wine and maybe liquor (never went in).
We have a very high end wine/liquor store here too. They have wine tastings every weekend, they have reps from different wineries come to give samples, there is always something going on in there, so even if the grocery store sold it, we'd still go there for many of the wines we buy. Dh is the wine drinker, I like a few that I know I could get there, but it would be nice to be able to grab some at the grocery store so that I have something on hand when needed.

 

[okeydokey]

That's one reason I love living in FL!