Bill would let grocers sell wine, beer

  DOVER -- In what would be a dramatic change to the package-store system that has remained almost unchanged since the end of Prohibition, Delawareans who want to pick up a bottle of Bordeaux to accompany their roast beef dinner will be able to get both at the same store if legislation introduced Thursday becomes law.

"Forty-five states and the District of Columbia allow at least beer and wine sales in their grocery stores, and I think it's time Delaware came into the 21st century," said Rep. John J. Viola, D-Newark, the bill's sponsor.

The bill has the potential to raise $10 million in its first year through the new class of alcohol license it would create -- a license with a one-time fee of $100,000 per store. There would be a biennial renewal fee of $5,000.

"It's projected to raise $10 million without pay cuts, furloughs or layoffs. It's going to raise money," Viola said.

Viola, who said he has been working on the bill for about six weeks, said he had been in contact with big grocery store chains and that they would be willing to pay the fee.

Delaware is one of only five states that do not permit the sale of beer and wine in grocery or convenience stores, according to data compiled by the Beer Institute, an industry trade group.

Christy Phillips-Brown, a spokeswoman for the Food Lion grocery chain, said Food Lion "is supportive of efforts to enable its customers to have an option to purchase alcohol-related beverages in our stores."

She would not say whether Food Lion had been contacted by Viola.

Convenience stores would be dealt out of the bill, which would authorize beer and wine sales only in stores with more than 6,000 square feet and whose primary business is selling food. At least 90 percent of the sales would have to be food that is not immediately consumable, such as frozen foods and canned goods.

The bill is sure to stir opposition from package store owners, who currently have a monopoly on alcohol sales in Delaware.

"I'm very much opposed to it. That's my stock and trade here," said Jack Klingmeyer, owner of Chelsea Wine and Spirits on Del. 141 and also mayor of New Castle. "Small liquor stores depend on your beer sales."

Viola contended that his bill would put no one out of business.

He said, as a consumer, he might pick up a bottle of wine as a spur-of-the-moment purchase when he drops by a grocery store, but that he would continue to patronize package stores that have certain wines that he likes, which might not be available at a grocery store.

David J. Hanson, a professor emeritus of sociology at the State University of New York at Potsdam, has researched the subject of alcohol and drinking for more than 40 years and agrees with Viola.

"I don't know of any studies that have looked at the package stores after the introduction of beer and wine into grocery stores, but it's clear that in states in which beer and wine is sold in grocery stores that package stores do continue to thrive," Hanson said.

"The whole idea of a package store is strange," Hanson said, calling it a relic of the days of the temperance movement, which sought to stigmatize alcohol as a shameful vice.

"It's called a package store because you had to carry it out concealed," he said.

The legislation could even be viewed as a "green" bill, Hanson said, because shoppers would not have to drive to separate stores to buy food and beverages.

"It's more convenient than going to the liquor store all the time," said Dennis Grier, 46, of Bear. "I visit Virginia a lot, and it's great [there]."

The bill is sure to spark debate in the House on a number of fronts.

Rep. William A. Oberle Jr., R-Beechers Lot, for instance, said he opposes the legislation because he thinks alcohol is accessible enough as it is.

It causes enough problems, Oberle said, that there is no need to make it even more accessible.

Aaron Jones of New Castle echoed Oberle's thoughts: "It's easily accessible enough already."

Some lawmakers may argue that selling beer and wine in grocery stores will make it easier for people younger than 21 to buy it, because there are no age restrictions on entering a grocery store.

Viola pointed to safeguards written into the bill: People buying beer or wine at a grocery would have to go through a separate checkout line where IDs would be scrutinized. The cashiers also would receive the same training required of people who serve alcoholic beverages.

As to the bill's chances of passage, Viola was more evasive, saying only, "Let the debate begin."