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Wine-in-groceries bill dead for year
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 12:28pm
Tennesseans wanting to buy wine in grocery stores will have to wait until at least 2009 as a bill today appears likely not to pass this year.
Today, the proposal received an extremely chilly reception in the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Despite being sponsored by the committee’s chairman, the bill barely received a second vote necessary for further discussion.
Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), the chairman of the panel and sponsor of the bill, delayed a vote on the measure and said it was likely headed to a study committee.
Jarron Springer, the president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association, said state “voters have to speak up” to bring more lawmakers on board his organization’s effort.
“This is about consumer choice for us,” Springer said.
Liquor storeowners testified against the bill, which is also opposed by liquor wholesalers.
Chip Christianson, the president of the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association, said allowing wine sales in grocery stores would benefit large companies like Kroger and Wal-Mart and hurt Tennessee’s small businessmen.
“I can absolutely guarantee you we will lose employees,” Christianson said.
A vote on another measure that would allow Internet wine sales was delayed.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s The City Paper.
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Filed under: City News
I was in attendance this morning at the committee hearing on Senate Bill 3139 concerning the sale of wine in grocery stores. My impressions after hearing the speakers this morning is that the liquor industry in Tennessee is the textbook definition of a rent-seeking entity. It’s clear they seek legislative favor to protect a competitive advantage. After all the spurious rhetoric that’s been put forth by the liquor lobby regarding concerns about teen drinking, the gentleman who spoke for the liquor lobby this morning couldn’t obscure what their advocacy was really about, and that is protection for the business owners who currently profit from the present laws. This is not a sufficient reason not to update our laws and provide Tennessee consumer the free market choice that is their right.I am sorry to see that our lawmakers don't have the backbone (still) to do that which is clearly the will of the people instead of the will of their campaign contributors.
Well as expected our worthless leaders ignore the will of the people or TN yet again. I say get rid of any lawmaker who votes against it as they are clearly in the pocket of the lobby.
I guess the "will of the people" has more to do with finding money to fill their gas tank than whether they can purchase wine in Wal-Mart.Eventually TN will grow up and be able to sit at the big kids table. I just wonder when.
I'd settle for internet wine purchases....at least we could order wine from vineyards. Who will be buying wine at Wal-Mart anyway? Does Sam's Choice make a version of cabernet?
Nashville has several wonderful wine shops. I'd hate to see them plowed under by Kroger & Wal-Mart. Although I think that anyone should be allowed to sell anything, I shudder when a few chains of big boxes end up bulldozing the independents. Nashville, for example, used to have a few independent retail bookstores. No longer. Indeed, there's no longer a decent retail bookstore in town.What seems sillier than banning supermarkets from selling wine is banning wine shops from selling beer. I've seen that in none of the other 20-30 states I've visited.
That's funny, MJB. I could have sworn Bookman/Bookwoman in Hillsboro Village is still open. And maybe you didn't realize Davis-Kidd is actually a local bookstore that has done well enough to franchise to other cities. No, Kroger selling wine will not undermine liquor stores. It will only expand the market for wine sales. Kroger will not carry any out of the mainstream wines that you can get at wine shoppes and liquor stores. They will carry cheap bottles of Mondavi and Yellow Tail. The wholesalers would probably be better off if wine could be sold in grocery stores, but they have to keep their retail outlets happy, so they're siding with them on this issue.
hey, i'd settle for internet wine purchases too!
Well since gas prices are always increasing and they can't do anything about the price of oil, they could at least give me a break on the mileage I have to drive to get a bottle of wine. I'm going to need all the Sam's Choice cabernet I can get if gas prices don't subside.
Internet purchases will never fly. The lobby would immediately scream that underagers would have access to wine and they would win. The lobby already has money and power. Arm them with a half-baked argument and our politicians would be as easy as a drunk prom date. You see, internet wine sales leads to an increase in drunken prom dates, which leads to an increase in underage DUIs, which leads to an increase in vehicular homicide, which leads to...
So much for Two Buck Chuck.