Once again, we’re going to see a push to allow the sale of full-strength beer and wine in grocery stores here in Colorado. As a progressive, I’m supporting it for two main reasons: One, allowing beer and wine sales in grocery stores can produce more good-paying union jobs and help middle-class workers. It’s estimated by economist Jack Strauss from the University of Denver that expanded alcohol sales could produce 20,000 local jobs and an additional 2.2 billion in economic activity in Colorado.
And two, for working families and especially working women like me, it makes life easier. Working women do not need one more thing to do after going to the grocery store after work, and allowing full-strength beer and wine sales saves them a trip. A 2009 study done by economist Henry Sobanet – now the Governor’s budget director – found that that every hour spent in traffic costs consumers $24. Convenience means saving time and money for families pressed for both and that’s not a bad thing.
And no, I don’t think it will put the local liquor store out of business. This simply hasn’t happened in other states. Colorado is one of only five states with the so-called “3.2 rule” allowing only low-alcohol beer sales in grocery stores. It’s a relic of Prohibition that hasn’t been overturned here. That same 2009 study found that states without it actually had a *higher* per-capita incidence of liquor stores.
I’ve seen this firsthand: I was in Texas visiting family this summer (don’t hold that against meJ. Texas has three things: lots of Baptists, lots of local liquor stores, and grocery stores selling full-strength beer and wine. If anything, it’s a complimentary relationship: people will still go to regular liquor stores for specialty items in addition to picking up a six-pack at the grocery.
Nor will allowing full-strength beer sales harm Colorado’s craft brewers – quite the opposite, in fact. Expanded availability could result in an additional $125 million increase in sales in Colorado. As Editorial Writer Jeremy Meyers pointed out in the Denver Post, the lack of grocery store sales puts Colorado craft brewers at an economic disadvantage in their home state. He writes, “…beer lovers across the country can buy Colorado brews in 48 states. Most of those beers are being sold in grocery stores. Why is it OK to sell in grocery stores in other states and not in Colorado?”
It’s also worth noting that expanded availability would help retailers – and the jobs they produce – outside the Denver metro area. Right now, with only one liquor license allowed per retail location, the groceries that do sell full-strength alcohol are all located in Metro Denver.
Furthermore, grocery stores operate on fairly thin retail margins – according to the trade group Food Marketing Institute, their profit margin after taxes is about 1.5%. So by allowing full-strength beer and wine sales, it improves their bottom line. Expanding grocery stores’ business, in addition to producing middle-class jobs, has a multiplier effect that could supports expansion into other markets and thus may help alleviate the problem of “food deserts.”
Coloradans pride themselves on practicality, and we value competition and the freedom to do what we want when we want. We also appreciate good beer (and wine). Forty-two states allow sale of Colorado beer and wine in grocery stores, but not here where they’re made. It simply doesn’t make any sense to hang on to an antiquated law that doesn’t do anybody any good.
Laura Chapin operates LKC Consulting LLC, a Denver-based political consulting firm.
I recently moved to Colorado from Virginia, and every part of my quality of life is better except one: grocery shopping. The grocery stores here are more expensive, less pleasant to shop, and have less variety than their East Coast counterparts.
Why? Because grocery stores don’t have high margin beer and wine to sell. Beer and wine are pure profit for grocery stores (craft beer especially). All those extra profits allow cheaper food, better presentation, and more choices.
The argument that craft beer will suffer if grocery stores sell real alcohol makes no sense. Virginia has a robust wine industry, and if anything, grocery stores trip over themselves to sell local product.
This effort is being pushed by the large retail stores such as Walmart and Kroeger. To try and frame the current law as one that doesn’t do anybody any good is not based on fact but on consultant spin. If this is so great for everybody why aren’t independent liquor store owners supporting it? As a native of Colorado, which I am guessing the author is not, I am stunned by the absurdity of the statement that Coloradans value “the freedom to do what we want when we want.” I’m not sure what she means here but if this is the best argument the people supporting this measure have, they have a long way to go in convincing me it is good for anyone.