Competition at core of liquor license move

A bid to block convenience and grocery stores from selling alcohol seems out of step in the Bay State.

Westboro-based Cumberland Farms has backed a proposal modifying Massachusetts law to allow authorities to begin granting food store liquor licenses. This would apply to retail stores that primarily sell food for off-premise consumption, permitting them to start selling beer and wine. It also eliminates the regulations limiting the number of licenses any one retail business can control.

Warehouse clubs would be exempt.

This isn’t a pioneering move — most states permit beer and/or wine sales in grocery stores, though some limit the purchases according to Alcohol By Volume.

There’s much to be said for being able to buy a six-pack of beer at the same place you buy your chicken, to make Beer Can Chicken.

It’s a move that’s convenient for consumers, and gives store owners a leg up in a tough retail environment.

There is, however, pushback. The initiative was certified for the fall ballot by Attorney General Maura Healey, but a coalition of package store owners has appealed that decision to the Supreme Judicial Court.

“The flood of retail outlets able to sell alcohol throughout Massachusetts would be a source of cheap booze. Low-cost alcohol encourages illegal sales and overconsumption that will be directed at the most vulnerable people in society,” said Steve Rubin, owner of Huntington Wine and Spirits. “It’s a major public safety issue if this was to happen.”

Rubin was among the liquor store owners, advocates and interest groups protesting the initiative at a State House hearing Monday.

Bay Staters close to New Hampshire already have access to low-cost alcohol, just by driving over the border. The tax-free liquor business is booming between our states, and the Granite State hasn’t crumbled from drink-induced debauchery. This is about competition. “We were taken completely by surprise when this came about,” said Robert Mellion, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, according to Boston 25 News. “You will be potentially adding 3,100 convenience stores, 2,000 markets and Walmarts and Targets and any other type of store that sells food on top of that to the existing 2,500 licenses.”

And Cumberland Farms itself could have a nice piece of the pie.

“Cumberland Farms currently has seven licenses, which is the same amount that all other chains are allowed,” the Massachusetts Package Store Association said in a statement. “Cumberland Farms introduced its ballot question to circumvent the legislative process by confusing voters into giving this single company unprecedented control of the retail alcohol marketplace with a potential 200-store network.”

Competition is tough, especially when you’re a retailer, but the premise of a free society is that the consumer, and marketplace, decide what succeeds and what fails. Grocery and convenience stores still have to card customers to make sure they’re of legal drinking age, and the products offered will be limited to beer and wine.

Liquor stores can still hold sway over sales of spirits, and brands and products that grocers may not have shelf room for. Competition can spur innovation.