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Grocery wine/beer bill ready

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 7, 2008 at 2:42 p.m.
Updated February 7, 2008 at 2:42 p.m.

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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.

Comments

  • 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

    4:50 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?

  • November 20, 2008

    10:28 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BOXEDIN writes:

    This bill will bankrupt all small liquor store owners. This is big
    money at work again. Their is no way that small liquor sore owners
    can compete with the grocery stores.Since the profit margins are
    low and a large part of sales in small liquor stores is beer any
    loss the these sales because of grocery stores selling full strengh
    beer would put then out of business. The same would hold true for
    brand name wine. I don't know how many small liquor stores are in
    Colorado but the number has to be in the thousands. The loss of
    jobs and tax revenue in Colorado would be massive.Nearly every
    liquor store ajoins a grocery store. Their is no need for this
    bill.In every way this bill smells of big money lack of concern
    for jobs that already exist in Colorado. By passing this bill this
    state stands everything to lose.