Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The fight in Albany continues to allow grocery stores to sell wine, but now you can add spirits to the mix as well.
A couple weeks after a pair of lawmakers in the State Legislature reintroduced a bill allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores across New York, State Sen. Luis Sepulveda presented legislation that would also permit the sale of liquor in grocery stores.
This bill would remove the current prohibitions on grocery stores selling liquor and wine, while allowing existing grocery stores to be grandfathered into the 200-foot rule, which prohibits liquor stores from being located near schools and places of worship, and removes the prohibition on an individual holding more than one license to sell liquor or wine.
Jack O'Donnell from O'Donnell and Associates feels the movement around wine, and now liquor in grocery stores is natural.
"We see some of these things in other states, we see places where people have a lot more choice. It's only natural that these stores, especially as they're facing price challenges - like we all are - are going to push to expand their opportunities and their openings," O'Donnell said in an interview with WBEN. "But the challenges remain the same, which is there are plenty of neighborhood liquor stores and wine stores that have provided services for years and are concerned about being overcome. So I think the expansion is very natural, but doesn't necessarily change the playing field."
O'Donnell sees a movement in Albany to take a look at several laws in New York that date back to Prohibition time and modernize what is and isn't allowed with the sale of wine and spirits.
"We need to see broadly the reaction from the legislature here, but the governor did include some specific proposals around ABC - Alcohol Beverage Control - law reform in her budget proposal. They were much smaller around dancing licenses, and we've seen some movement around how restaurants can buy liquor," O'Donnell said.
"Another one that there's a lot of talk in Albany is right now, you're only allowed to have one package store or wine license to sell. And there's a movement to move that not broadly, but, at least, to two licenses. So I do think the climate around making some changes in this world exists in Albany, but how far they're ready to go and how quickly, quickly is not usually a word we associate with Albany."
O'Donnell believes this issue in Albany has not really been a partisan issue.
"We've seen Democrats and Republicans, I think it depends a lot on your relationships in your district. Do you have big grocery stores, or do you have a number of small 'mom and pop' liquor stores really driving how legislators feel about this more than their party affiliation," he noted.
O'Donnell believes this will, once again, be a fight in Albany that will go to the wire come the end of session in June.
Lawmakers like State Sen. George Borrello introduced a compromise bill last year that would allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores, but only the sale of New York-based wine and not an unrestricted sale of wine.
Related
While Andy Wegrzyn from Buffalo Distilling Company understands a bill like this would offer some more customers to add to their base that doesn't currently exist, it is a double-edged sword.
"It is going to cut into the business of our current customers, which is primarily liquor stores, probably our biggest customers," Wegrzyn said with WBEN. "We are pretty tight with those guys, they've been with us since the beginning. I'm not wishing them any ill, I know this would hurt them. So we're still standing strong with the liquor store separation, honestly, because I know it's going to hurt our customer base, and I wouldn't want to see that as much as the advantage that we could now sell in grocery stores. It's kind of a sticky line for us to carry, but we do have allegiance to our original customers, which are the liquor stores currently."
At this point, Wegrzyn doesn't feel there can be any sort of compromise that would allow for local liquor stores to be able to operate and not feel the pain of this proposed bill from Albany.
"I think you're picking winners and losers when you do this. That's what lobbyists do, and I'm sure if you follow the money, there's a lobby behind it," Wegrzyn said. "I know if you asked Joe Public, they would say, 'Yeah, it'd be great if I could buy a bottle of whiskey or a bottle of wine at Wegmans.' And I know they do it in different states, those laws are around, but the system we're in has been around since I don't know how far back, but it's been a long time. So there's this core of businesses that have been existing on that plane, so now you're saying, basically, 'We're going to reach into your pockets,' because people are going to buy wine and spirits at the grocery store. I don't like the feeling of that, personally, to my customers that I've already been in business with for the past 10 years.
While this push for a bill allowing wine sales in grocery stores didn't go anywhere the first time around last year, Wegrzyn feels the push from Albany will keep coming time-and-time again.
"I think there's enough backing to move that way," he said. "Joe Public, isn't lobbying for it. If you ask Joe Public, he might say, 'Yes, I would like to be able to buy wine and spirits at the grocery store.' But I don't think he's marching in the streets for it. So the lobby comes from somewhere else, and if that lobby doesn't go away, then the pressure will continue."