"Save Our Store"

One can easily see the threat this poses from the dire state of retail wine stores in California. It's a wasteland once you ignore the fact that they have many of the best stores in the country.

On ACOB it was reported that some distributors are pressuring retail stores to oppose this by threatening to cut them off.

Of course restrictions on what wine stores can sell should be removed as well if this goes through. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to sell wine gift bags (or cheese for that matter as they can in NJ).
 
The issue is not simply grocery stores vs. specialty stores.

Under current New York State law, one can only hold one alcohol license. So, there are no chain store operations -- be they Total Beverages, supermarkets, etc.

Retailers fear that they will lost a large part of their clientele who buy standard brands and that the new legislation will allow chain discounters to enter the market. They fear that they will lose too much business and that there is only a limited market for niche wines. Take standard purchasing out of the small boutique retail mix and you could mind up with financially tenuous operations.

As someone in the trade I don't want to go on record and anger clients.

But, in general, I am against government regulation of private matters. I'm for kids drinking young, against censorship, legalized marijuana and don't want the government regulating my life.

I also think the diversity of small stores in New York is fabulous and something to be protected, but protected by an intelligent clientele, not by government legislation.
 
Let's also not forgot that some stores use the gravy from the easy sale of mass brands to fund their purchases of more esoteric and slower moving wines.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
One can easily see the threat this poses from the dire state of retail wine stores in California. It's a wasteland once you ignore the fact that they have many of the best stores in the country.
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This is the case because the State of CA has wine-friendly legislation, unlike most of us back East.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

This is the case because the State of CA has wine-friendly legislation, unlike most of us back East.
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This is a good point. Legally proscribing New York supermarkets from selling wine smacks of regulation gone wild, but it's cut of the same cloth as all the gone-wild regulation that's already in place. As long as money buys votes, and wherever oenological agriculture is not a major industry sector, the regulatory environment is going to be warped - and probably corrupt.
 
Well-run wine shops in CA do fine, I see no reason why NY would be different. I assume the wineshops would then be allowed to sell other things too, wine glasses and cork-screws for example, good olive oil perhaps, but perhaps I am being too fair.

I remember working in the old Morrell store on 53rd Street; to start selling glasses they had to build a little kiosk in the front of the store with its own door onto the street.
 
A change like this would no doubt shake things up. Many small shops would go out of business. I don't think Chambers Street Wines would suffer too much. Astor Wines, who do a fair amount of business in standard brands and private labels, would still probably compete effectively.

Supermarkets selling wine don't interest me. I've never seen a supermarket wine section that could attract my business. (The Whole Foods experiment at Columbus Circle was worthwhile; not very competitive, though.) So, let them in, I guess. Why not?

On the other hand, would all the hip new wine shops in Brooklyn have opened if supermarkets were selling wine? Not that I shop in any of them, either.

The limitation to one license and one location is likely part of the reason why there are so many good wine shops in New York (or at least decent). I am in favour of keeping that.

If supermarkets could sell wine, would Fairway be compelled to go into the wine business? Don't they have enough work to do already? It could be a good thing for the Upper West Side.
 
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