Time to bring liquor stores into 21st century

The state liquor store in the Storrs Street shopping plaza in Concord was once state-of-the-art, the cat's pajamas, hip. But that was a generation ago. The store, like most of the 76 others operated by the liquor commission, is badly out of date. Mark Bodi, the veteran advertising executive who took over as commission chairman in 2007, wants to modernize the state's $400 million-per-year liquor system. It's about time.

Liquor earns lots of money for New Hampshire - more than $100 million per year, with half that contributed by people who come from out of state.

But it could earn more, offer a far greater selection, and be more convenient to patronize if modernized.

Bodi wants lawmakers to expand, perhaps dramatically, the number of private "agency" stores licensed to sell spirits. At the moment, there are just three: in the remote towns of Errol, Pittsburg and Greenville.

Bodi wants to close unprofitable state stores and revise or scrap the law that forbids any agency store from locating within five miles of a state store. Grocery stores and other retailers would sell hard liquor purchased from the state. Presumably, the state would make its standard markup, but on higher sales and without the overhead of running as many stores.

The prices charged by retailers would presumably be higher, but the selection offered by both public and private-sector stores would increase. When the Concord store opened, Bodi said, it sold two or three brands of vodka. Today, more than 150 are on the market. Similarly, the number of wines available has exploded, but state stores have no room to display more than a sampling of them.

Because a liquor store draws shoppers to an area, the commission was traditionally able to lease space at a low cost, in some cases for as little as $6 per square foot. That compares with market rates that can be four times as much. But more commercial space is now owned by real estate investment trusts that seek to maximize returns. The sweet deals are coming to an end, which is all the more reason to look for more efficiencies.

Bodi expects New Hampshire to remain among the 18 states that control liquor sales but to change the way it operates. The state stores would also stock more items. A customer buying wine, for example, might want a corkscrew or set of wine glasses, too, but the current system makes it incredibly difficult for stores to sell such items.

Bodi's changes have a few downsides that lawmakers will have to consider. Rates of alcohol abuse tend to increase when liquor becomes more available. That will increase demand for treatment and mean the state should devote additional resources to abuse prevention.

Closing the unprofitable stores will also mean that the commission, which employees 300 people full time and 400 part time, will need fewer workers. When possible, displaced employees should be offered other state jobs, and reductions should be made by attrition.

Such concerns are not enough, however, to justify business as usual. Much has changed since the state got into the liquor business some 75 years ago. The state's liquor system must change as well.