Grocery wine/beer bill ready

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 02:42 p.m., February 7, 2008
Updated 02:42 p.m., February 7, 2008

A bill to let grocery stores in Colorado sell full-strength beer and wine is ready to be formally introduced in the legislature as soon as today.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, said he made several changes to the initial draft in a bid to overcome objections voiced by liquor store owners and others such as craft brewers.

According to Shaffer, the bill would:

Permit grocers and convenience stores such as 7-Eleven to sell regular beer and wine six days a week. Discount retailers that operate grocery sections, such as Wal-Mart and Target, also would be allowed to do so.

Liquor stores could sell nonperishable foods such as chips, pretzels and dips.

Liquor store owners would be allowed to own up to three liquor stores in the state. Current law permits owners to have only one liquor license.

Previous versions of the draft legislation had limited the wine and beer sales to grocers that have a pharmacy and get at least 51 percent of their gross revenue from food sales.

Opponents had said such restrictions would have kept out big retailers such as Target as well as rural grocers that don't operate pharmacies and convenience stores.

"We took out all the arbitrary restrictions," said Shaffer.

The draft legislation also hadn't contained provisions to permit liquor stores to sell food and liquor owners to own more than one store.

• February 7, 2008

  3:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Diff writes:

  Bad idea -
  once again the little guy gets screwed for the good of the Wal-Marts, and Safeways, and I wonder just how much feather lining has gone into law makers pockets to get this unnessasary legislation introduced in the first place!

• February 7, 2008

  3:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Awal writes:

  So, we still won't be able to buy beer on Sundays, or is that in a separate bill?

• February 7, 2008

  3:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  my3pugs writes:

  And the Krogers. On the other hand, price competition is a good thing, right? Or does the "little guy" have a right to make more money because he is little? Service and selection will be where the little guy makes money.

• February 7, 2008

  4:35 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Tbone writes:

  This bill is crap. The public wants booze on sundays, from our mom&pop liquor store!

  I think they should just make it legal on sundays, but still forbid groceries from selling full strength booze.

• February 7, 2008

  4:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BirdonaWire writes:

  Different bill than Sunday legalization. I'd like to be able to buy beer at the grocery store, but I'll settle for one less blue law.

• February 7, 2008

  5:42 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dhakala writes:

  I wonder where the winos will go for their Thunder Bird?