For nearly two decades liquor store owners have been adamantly proposing the legalization of grocery stores selling wine, and due to Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, the debate is once again a topic of discussion.
If the law gets passed, New Yorkers’ shopping carts could include their fav bottles of cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir but, on the flip side, mom-and-pop alcohol shops could face sale declines and even potentially risk going out of business.
Furthermore, the law would potentially put many people out of work.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, Michael Correra, owner of an independent liquor store in Brooklyn and head of Metropolitan Package Store Association which represents over 3,000 independent liquor stores across NY, stated:
It’s not necessary to have wine for purchase in multiple locations…There is a reason that the system we have now works. I’m only allowed to sell two products – wine and liquor. Wine is the most profitable and I make 80% of my sales from wine alone. If people go elsewhere to buy their wine, I may as well shut down my business, because I don’t see how I could make a profit then.
State senator Liz Krueger, who sponsors the bill, stated she’s been championing this issue for many years and that tourists are “often dismayed to discover the law won’t let them buy wine in the grocery store.” Though Krueger has introduced the bill multiple times she’s received pushback from the independent stores each time.
Business Council of New York Executive Vice President Paul Zuber also agrees with the bill, stating that the revenue that would come of it “will be significant.”
And this isn’t the only NYC news related to wine–word on the street is that NYC’s only Trader Joe’s Wine Shop may potentially reopen.