I just wrote about Texas microbreweries proposing to be able to sell retail. Now Pennsylvanian markets wants to be able to sell beer at the cafes in supermarkets, but two senators are trying to kill the whole idea. Now I have to say that the alcohol laws in PA seem a bit strange to me. I never actually understood them in my visits to the state and sometimes had a difficult time figuring out where I could buy a case of beer.Now under consideration by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board are liquor license applications which would allow supermarkets to serve and sell six-packs as long as the sales occur in sit-down, 30-seat cafes that are separated by a wall from the rest of the store. While this sounds good to me, it doesn't quite fit in with what a few of the state legislature think. A few want to tighten up the proposals, make sure the cafe and supermarket are two separate businesses, have separate cash registers and cashiers, insure that the cashiers who are at least 18 years old, and a few other items.
These sound fine to me, but other legislators seem scared of opening the door to supermarkets being able to sell beer by the case like beer distributors, and feel that brews should only be able to be purchased by the six-pack from a deli.
In this Post-Gazette article the governor's spokeswoman says it's quite unlikely Mr. Rendell would support a liquor code change forbidding beer sales in supermarkets, adding that the governor thinks beer sales at supermarket cafes is inevitable.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-31-2007 @ 5:06PM
rahul said...
PA liquor laws are dumb. in order to buy beer at a reasonable price one has to buy it by the case at a beer distributer, if not you get gouged at local mini marts. i spend on average $12 for a 6 pack. also hard liquor can only be purchased from a PA wine and spirit store, where the employees know nothing about wine or liquor so your on your own.
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1-31-2007 @ 8:11PM
Rosemary said...
I went to school in PA (originally from Montgomery County, MD) and I was so happy to not be treated like a damn criminal when purchasing alcohol.
Of course, I was also amazed by the sight of drive-thru beer distributors too. And my experience with the state run wine/liquor stores was always positive, with the employees being extremely helpful.
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1-31-2007 @ 8:53PM
Colin said...
Yes, here in Philly, and everywhere in PA, the liquor laws are crazy-stupid. You can only by beer by the 24 or 30 pack case from a distributor. OR you can buy 6-packs but only from establishments that is also sells food. (That spawns six-pack stores that have a tiny tiny window in the back where you can, supposedly, order a pizza... but no one does.)
I don't particularly see why anyone would want to eat a grocerty store, let alone have some suds there, but I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to.
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1-31-2007 @ 9:02PM
Colin said...
Eat a grocery store? Jeez, you'd think I'd never typed before...
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2-01-2007 @ 9:19AM
zac said...
Yeah,I live in Pittsburgh,we have really strange laws here,but generally the employees at the state stores are knowledgable enough. That is, if you go to one that's not in the crappier neighborhoods. If you go there, they recommend whatever wine is on sale. Also,those stores are smaller, so they have a crappy selection of especially wine. I'd rather have more middle of the shelf stuff, but generally the little ones have a few expensive bottles and then like an aisle of hobo wine.
Let's see, a '99 Thunderbird or an '02 wild irish rose....Methinks it's worth the drive to the suburbs.
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2-01-2007 @ 10:18AM
Gobo said...
A similar proposal was shut down here in Massachusetts last November -- it would have allowed wine to be sold in supermarkets. I guess the ability to buy a bottle of Merlot with your food was too sinful for the voters here.
Liquor laws here are stupid, too. Liquor can only be sold at "package stores", which can also sell food. But a store that sells food that's not a "package store" is not allowed to sell beer, wine, or liquor. It's meaningless.
Considering that back in my home state of Ohio, I could buy a bottle of wine or Bailey's at Target and pick up a six-pack of microbrew beer when I buy stuff for dinner at the grocery store, arguing over semantics seems silly.
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2-01-2007 @ 11:17AM
Jon said...
Gobo, I voted against the Massachusetts proposal to sell wine in grocery stores. Not because I think it's sinful, but because I think it's bad for the liquor stores. I patronize several large, very well-stocked liquor stores. If people could buy wine at the local Stop & Shop, these good stores would lose business. The law helped big grocery chains and hurt small locally-owned businesses.
You described the current laws wrong, too. Grocery stores that aren't package stores are allowed to sell beer and wine with a license. Licenses are only granted to a small number of a particular store in a state. So there are two Trader Joe's that sell beer and wine (Framingham and Cambridge, I think), and the rest can't. There are a couple Stop & Shops that sell beer and wine also. Again, the law protects small businesses by limiting what the big chains can do.
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2-03-2007 @ 6:18AM
David said...
In Japan they have vending machines that sell beer on the street. No ID check. And you know what? Society does not fall apart. Screw these giant pussies that tell us we need to have liquor license control boards.
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2-11-2007 @ 9:54PM
chris said...
Put beer for sale anywhere and let the free market dictate sales. Damn the laws that go against a free market. Mr Mass you sound like a commie. Laws that forbid people engaging in a lawful purchuse just to protect business is wrong. The people should have the right to choose. The again Mass has given us folks like John Kerry who I would not trust as far as I could spit and criminals like the Kennedys. Glad the rest of America doesn't follow that state.
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2-13-2007 @ 6:20PM
Joe Martinak said...
having visited most of the 50 startes and 25 countries. I can say without a doubt...Pennsylvania is one of the most backward areas I have been to. having grown up here and moving back here because of family, I am ready and cannot wait to leave. you would think the state would do anything to try to keep young people and anyone here worth a damn, but you cannot buy wine or beer in the supermarkets. Good luck if your having guest over on a Sunday and didn't plan ahead. WEST VIRGINIA makes US here in Pennsylvania look backward and stupid-and thats saying something. From the wine and beer laws, tax laws, (tax relef? ha ha), lack of museums, to the slots and gambling mess, our elected people in Harrisburg do EVERYTHING possible to make people move out of the state. Do yourself a favor...Move to West Virginia, Virginia or Washington, D.C. if you have to move to anywhere close to this region for work or leasure.
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