The neighborhood liquor store in Florida could soon become an endangered species.
That's because the state legislature is considering shattering a Prohibition-era rule that restricts liquor sales to package stores, opening up the sale of vodka, gin, whiskey and other spirits to supermarkets and box stores, such as Walmart and Target.
"It would be devastating to us if it passes,” said Mike Saternis, the owner of High Spirits Liquor and Lounge in West Palm Beach. “The competition would be too much for the independents to try to survive on with what little profit we make.”
This isn't the first time that state legislators have considered tearing down the "liquor wall" that has kept the sale of spirits from stores that sell a variety of goods and are frequented by minors. Under the existing law, liquor stores must devote all their business to alcohol and related mixers and party supplies.
And they can’t hire anybody under the age of 21 to work there. Under the new law, stores selling liquor can employ minors as long they are supervised by someone who is 18 years old.
The bill (SB 106) passed its first hurdle last week in the Senate Regulated Industries committee, with lawmakers voting 9-1, and citing consumer convenience.
Saternis said that it’s hard for the small independents to have a voice.
“We have a total of eight lobbyists and the box stores have 32 going against us,” he said.
But there is a big player in the corner of the liquor stores. The state’s biggest grocery chain, Publix Super Markets, has joined the independents in opposition to the bill. For Publix, it would mean remodeling their stores and bucking the chain’s family-friendly image to make room for liquor.
And there’s ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, a family-owned alcohol retailer with 131 stores in the state, that is also opposing the bill.
“This just creates easier access for minors, where their presence is unchecked,” said Bob Gibson, a spokesman for ABC Fine Wine & Spirits. “It puts big box store interests ahead of the interests of our youth.”
He cited the story of an 18-year-old girl who drank five cans of beer from the beer aisle at a Sumter County Walmart this month, making her drunk enough to assault an emergency management technician trying to help her.
Independent liquor stores fear that knocking down the liquor wall may just knock them out of business.
“Walmart sells everything,” explained Hema Harpale, who works at Liquor Village in Jupiter. “When they started with beer, we stopped selling beer, because they sell it cheaper than us. The distributors give them a better deal because they buy more than us.”
An analysis of the economic effects of the bill done by legislative staffers estimated that the bill, if passed, would shrink the number of alcohol licenses issued, and reduce state revenues by about a quarter-million dollars.
It would also put some people out of work, Saternis said.
“It’s a big job killer,” he said. “Whoever the independents employ would be out of work.”
Sam Abdo, who has owned the Super Duper Liquor Store in West Palm Beach, for the past 25 years, said he thinks his store will suffer, but survive.
“We offer more than they do,” he said. “We carry liquor from all over the world, but we might lose a lot of customers.”
It may depend on what Publix ultimately does. If the bill passes, will Publix stock liquor on its shelves to compete with the Walmarts and Targets, or will the supermarket keep things as they are?
Donna Merelli, who owns Ocean Liquors in a Publix-anchored shopping plaza in Boca Raton, said she doesn’t expect the small Publix market across the parking lot from her store to sell liquor if the bill becomes law. And even if it does, she thinks she’ll hang onto her customers.
“People come to us because it’s convenient,” she said. “You can be in and out of here in 30 seconds.”
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