Wine plan not quite ripe

 Allowing supermarkets and other stores in New York to sell wine is the right thing to do. But before lawmakers approve Gov. David Paterson's idea, they must resolve some fundamental and rather absurd inequities to level the playing field so that they don't put liquor stores at an unnecessary disadvantage or, worse, out of business.
  
We support the governor's proposal to make wine more widely available by allowing its sale in more than 18,000 supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores, which already can sell beer. The governor estimates the state would raise more than $100 million from new franchise fees from stores and increased sales. That alone is a potent argument in a state whose projected deficit next year now exceeds $16 billion.

There are other arguments for this. There is no good reason for wine sales to be limited to a small clique of some 2,700 liquor stores, or for consumers who want wine with a home-cooked meal to have to make a separate trip to a liquor store just to get a bottle of wine.

We also believe that liquor stores, with their expertise, selection and ability to offer personalized, knowledgeable service, can thrive in a state where wine is more widely available ?if they compete on as level a playing field as possible. Which, under the governor's plan so far, they would not. And that must be fixed.

An example: Wine and liquor stores can sell only a few other products, such as ice, corkscrews, wine-related publications, glasses, water and some wine paraphernalia. So a customer who buys a bottle of wine for a gift and wants to put it in a shiny bag with a bow has to go to another store that sells such things. Not so in a grocery store, where the buyer would just go from the wine aisle to the stationery aisle.

The same would go for cheese, crackers and any other food that complements a bottle of wine. So, too, would be the case with other beverages, alcoholic and otherwise: A person planning a party that includes beer, wine and soda would be able to stock up on all of it at a grocery or convenience store, but only on wine at the liquor store.

Further, a liquor store owner can operate at only one location, while the governor's proposal apparently would allow grocery, drug and convenience chains to buy wine in bulk and sell at multiple locations.

Such inconsistencies, which would amount to needless inconveniences for consumers and competitive disadvantages for liquor stores, must be resolved in any final plan to broaden the sale of wine. This is critical. The Legislature cannot pass a bill that broadens the sale of wine, and potentially hurts an existing industry, with a vague plan to fix the problem later. Albany typically has a very different sense of time than the rest of the world, and "later" can mean a month, a year, or never.

One bad year can kill a small business. It would be irresponsible, and self-defeating, for the state to do only half the job, raising money for itself while failing to protect several thousand tax-paying businesses.