Wine sold in grocery store- whats your opinion?

[Handbag Lady]

I am baffled by other state's laws. We've always been able to buy it in grocery stores as long as I can remember. I don't understand the issue.

 

[BonnieA]

It's very convenient to buy wine in a grocery store. In my area the selection is quite extensive. The stores devote a whole aisle to wine. If I had to go to the state store to buy wine, I would buy a lot less (which may be a good thing).

 

[handinpocket]

Why should I have to pay more for a product so mom&pop can take my money home to spend?

Now I will shop at small stores that provide me a real service. I will pay more money - for something. I love small bookstores with unique stock. I have an aunt who keeps sending me Barnes & Noble gift cards. I have a stack of them because I never go in there.

But I refuse to pay more money for INCONVENIENCE and so somebody else can have my money.

Mom & Pop stores as a concept are so over-rated. Believe me I grew up with them, knew several owners, etc. Too often they don't provide benefits to employees or much of anything else but price gouging.

Well go to Wal Mart already!!!

 

[Kycha]

Not that I'm a big drinker, but I love that they sell wine in the grocery stores here. My husband is from PA and I always find it annoying that we have to go to a separate store to buy wine and liquor at other stores when we are visiting.

Things are changing in PA. This trial began last summer:

"The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is rolling out wine vending machines in grocery stores across the state, starting with two in the Harrisburg area. Each machine holds 1,000 bottles of 53 (count 'em) different wines, which you can buy if you swipe your driver's license to prove you're 21 or older, look into a camera monitored by a liquor control board employee to prove you are the person you say you are, and breathe into an alcohol sensor to prove you are not intoxicated. The machines, which operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (but not on Sunday), accept credit cards and provide information about each of the wines."

Moved to KY from PA 18 months ago. The county I live in is completely dry. We have to drive 20+ miles to the next county over if we want any alcoholic beverages. I don't really drink. But I have observed that you can purchase beer in the grocery stores/convenience stores/Walmart except on Sundays. For wine or hard liquor you have to buy it at a separate store. Although you can buy wine/hard liquor at Walmart, they don't sell it inside the grocery part of the store. They have a separate section of the store that is blocked off to the rest of the store with separate entrances and everything.

Now in PA, you could purchase wine and hard liquor only at a state store. And beer was purchased at a beer distributor. You could also purchase beer at bars for take out. But only in six packs. And of course, no Sunday sales for anything.

 

[portocall]

Strange how the laws vary so much. I have to agree with arminnie that I tend to drink/buy way less here in New Orleans since it is so available. We also have mom/pop liquor stores here along with being able to buy alcohol of any variety in the grocery stores, gas stations, and drive thrus (you can't put the straw in it till you get out the car or it becomes an open container). The mom and pops survive because they offer something to their customers, either in exotic brands, customer service, sometimes better prices.

Neither my husband and I drink that often but when his family tried to convince us to relocate with them to Texas my husband told them no, he wasn't moving somewhere that he couldn't get a beer when he wanted one. The day after Katrina we drove to Keller TX with three young kids on their second full day in a car of three days and two sleepless nights of worry and all we wanted was a cold beer and some sleep. No can do, a dry county and my bil just moved in their new house a week ago and hadn't stocked the fridge up yet. Now when we go visit we bring our "sin" cabinet with us (if you had to endure them you would totally get it) but of all the reasons not to move to Texas (like my husband's job and retirement being tied to Louisiana) he chose he couldn't have a beer when he most wanted one. I can't remember the last beer he had.

So all that to say, I don't see the problem with beer or wine being sold in a grocery store.

 

[ctinct]

I would love for our grocery stores to sell wine. There are TONS of liquor stores around here, but I dislike making an extra stop--except for one particular liquor store where they have always helped me select my wine. Otherwise, it's grab and go, and I could do that in a grocery store.

Right now there is a push to change the beer sales law here. As it stands, beer can be sold during certain hours (ends at 9 pm I think) in grocery stores, but no one can sell it on Sundays and certain holidays. Grocery stores and liquor stores near the MA border want to be able to sell beer on Sundays. MA already does, so the stores near MA lose business to them. The majority of stores that are not near the border do not want to be able to sell beer on Sundays, because they feel they will have to go to seven day a week operation to compete with grocery stores. It might hurt the mom and pop stores to have extra operating costs that one day of the week. I really don't care about the beer; just wish I could get wine in the grocery store, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[golfgal]

I am baffled by other state's laws. We've always been able to buy it in grocery stores as long as I can remember. I don't understand the issue.

The issue is that it is just different from what people had before and change is hard for people to accept.

The "REAL" issue people have is that it give easier access to minors since they can be in a grocery store without a parent present (here with liquor stores you have to be 21 to enter one or with a parent).

 

[Jennasis]

In NC beer and wine is sold in grocery stores (hard liquor is available only at an ABC). I have zero problem with it.

 

[tvguy]

The issue is that it is just different from what people had before and change is hard for people to accept.

The "REAL" issue people have is that it give easier access to minors since they can be in a grocery store without a parent present (here with liquor stores you have to be 21 to enter one or with a parent).

No age limit to enter a liquor store here, and it sure seems there primary customers are those under 21. Not for the liquor, but for all the snacks, energy drinks and other stuff they sell. There have to be a certain distance from schools, but the ones closest to schools are always packed after school as kids come in to get Slim Jims, Beef Jerkey, sodas, Sobes,etc.

 

[Pixiedust34]

It would be nice to have wine and beer sold in grocery stores, but that isn't allowed where we live. We have to make a trip to a separate store for alcohol purchases, and those stores are closed on Sundays.