Blogs May 26, 2010 at 6:23 pm

Comments

1
I wonder if they'll start selling bottles bigger than 1.75 liters. We know for sure they'll at least shrink-wrap two of those jugs together.
2
Oh sweet 2 1/2 foot tall bottle of Kirkland Signature vodka... I will get myseld a Costco membership solely for the ability to purchase you whenever I want without having to go to Cali or Arizona. Please, please, PLEASE let this be successful.
3
Gross. So gross. The Walmart, Kroger, Costco, 7-11 alliance for privatize liquor will make the bag tax repeal seem grassroots and progressive.

Dear progressives and other people with souls: Please refuse to sign this giveaway to corporate exurbia.
4
there is literally no reason for the state to be the sole purveyor of liquor
5
My headline, "Free Booze from the State Now!"

I see no good reason that supermarkets can have a pharmacy full of drugs, sell beer and wine, gambling, but not booze.
6
I support this. When I lived in Michigan you could get booze at convenience stores, for crying out loud. It didn't seem to create any major problems.
7
@3, give us an actual reason, please. There are certain sectors of the economy that the private sector is inherently unequipped to handle well. I can't see why booze should be considered one of them. It doesn't scare me that Costco and QFC might make money off of the honest sale of spirits.
8
i make my own booze. y'all yankees can argue this to death, and i'll be sitting back pointing and laughing with a gin and tonic.
9
Now if only Costco would also collect signatures on the pot initiative, too. They could also sell marijuana!
10
YAY! No more driving to Cali for giant bottles of booze from Costco <3
11
The heavens opened...and tequila fell like rain.

Hallelujah.
12
@1: they sell individual handles in ca, and would probably do the same here. and they have their own brand (kirkland signature) which has some types of liquor. their tequila and vodka are GREAT. costco is a chain i can get behind
13
They got rid of the state liquor stores in Iowa when I was in college back in the bronze age. Despite all manner of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching, civilization did not end. This is a good thing.

And I don't even drink the hard stuff.....
14
State liquor stores have all the ambiance of a 1960s era K-Mart, the customer service of a dentist office, and bank hours.

This can only be an improvement.
15
Liquor laws are so odd. Here in Indiana, you can buy any kind of booze at a grocery store, but you can't buy cold beer. Warm beer is ok, as is cold wine. Also, you can't buy bottles of liquor on Sunday, except from a winery.
16
So is this the version submitted by Charla Neuman that should be at worst revenue-neutral? Or is this the one that will lose money for the state? I just want to make sure I sign the right petition...
17
Hooray for a 24-hour liquor store on every corner! Imagine the convenience of not having to plan your drunken debauchery hours in advance!

Here we are in the middle of a revenue crisis and we're going just give away $655 million per year in state revenue to Costco and it's cronies. Brilliant!

The additional cost of sweeping all those drunks off the street and pulling them off their abused spouses should be more than compensated for by the increase in taxes on liquor that the state will be able to charge, right? Right! This is the state that gave up rural ambulance service so that it could have $30 car tabs.

Yeah, we'll just tax the liquor more. That's going to work really well! And should be such an easy sell with all the Tea Baggers and their "No Tax's" platform.

And hey, Iowa, Michigan, and California I've been to your states and seen the 24-hour liquor stores on every corner with their barred up windows and bullet-proof glass. You can keep them.
18
@17 the liquor sales in California stop at 2 am...trust me, there is nothing that is 24 hours. If you're going to be fearmongering at least get your facts straight.
19
could someone PLEASE tell me:

what effect will this have on booze prices in bars?

higher? lower? my entire viewpoint of the issue rests on the answer to this question.
20
You're right, Stuffandthings, liquor stores open for 20 hours is an entirely different thing that being open 24 hours.

Personally, I'm looking forward to liquor stores with barred-up windows and bulletproof glass in my neighborhood. Hell, property values are already too high as it is! The cops in my neighborhood don't have shit to do now, and when this law passes, I'll be able to go get another fifth of Reslky at 1:59am -- when I really need it.

And really, who doesn't want to forgo $655 million in state revenue in exchange for a $2 savings on a liter of cheap bourbon? Costco is just barely getting by with their nearly $70 billion in annual revenue! We have to do something to help support this poor, struggling company! Think of the children!
21
Tacoma Aroma -- the "$655 million in state revenue" will not be given away. That is the tax that the state collects on liquor sales -- include the tax on private-sector sales of beer and wine. That tax is not being "taken away", it will be collected by the private sector.

Tax collections will likely increase, since many of the Washington residents who buy liquor out of state to avoid the highest liquor prices in the nation will be more likely to buy from in-state stores.
22
TacomaRoma, sarcasm is not an balm for intellectual sterility, to be heaped onto every argument like so many tons of manure on barren earth.
23
@17 Where were you in Michigan? Detroit?

Please wait...

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