Greener On The Other Side of The Fence

I’m a lucky guy. I live right on an imaginary fence-line that puts me right on the edge of not only two, but three states. Those states are Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Oregon is only 15 minutes from my house. Idaho is about an hour and a half.


Really, my life is good. So, when I complain about something you should know that I’m one of the lucky ones who can jump over the “fence”.

The barred and empty shelves in my neighborh store
all prepared to receive booze in the next few days.

What I’m preparing for is the Y2K of Washington State liquor sales. Washington State voters passed Initiative 1183 last fall resoundingly! WoooHooo!! Now they have to live with it. On June 1st the state run liquor stores that have been in business in this state for longer than I’ve been alive will be closed immediately. Taking their place will be.... Well, we’re not sure yet who that will be.

We do know for sure that Costco, who put millions into the campaign, and several other large grocery and drug stores will be able to sell because they are over the square footage limit. Other stores that will also qualify to sell are small outlets in underpopulated areas, and state liquor stores that have been auctioned off to private individuals.

Doesn’t seem to be a problem. You’d think? Well, the problem is that the state will control liquor sales until the 1st of June. Then close their doors. On that date, the new establishments will be put in lock stock charge of sales. This shouldn’t be a problem except that there is no real solid plan for transition, transportation, or distribution to the new stores.

Many of the large stores are just now drawing up plan-o-grams and buying shelving. The state run stores are running out of stock. And, the state employees that we dropped on their heads are either dreaming of retirement or looking to get a job at one of the new stores.

I went shopping this morning for a big event we’re having next weekend. One of the things on the menu was Margaritas. Yum! Well, it almost wasn’t. The selection of alcohol is nearly nonexistent in the state run stores, with no plan to update stock. They’re selling out.

Nobody is talking about this, but Washington State has pretty much created it’s own short-term prohibition. Good luck buying alcohol for the next few weeks while the companies, state, and distributors figure all this out. You simply won’t be able to buy booze in this state very soon. We voted for cheap booze, and are going to get no booze!

I know that booze is on its way to stores soon. All the greedy masses are lining up to sell it to you at higher...yes, I said higher prices than you’ve seen before. Distributors that I’ve talked to have said that they are dealing with corporate greed like never before. Asking for deeper discounts and taking larger profit cuts than the state ever did. Why? Because we also voted major changes in price posting which controlled corporate greed.

My recommendation is go go out and buy everything you plan on drinking this summer right now. Don’t hold back! Personally, I’m planning on surrounding myself in my compound with booze, limes, and tomato juice and not coming out until this apocalypse is over! Or, I’ll just drive to Hermiston and buy a bottle.

Cheers!

Washington State Initiative 1183 Will Impact Wine In Oregon

I’m not one to get into political debates. I don’t even like talking to people about my voting preferences. However, there is a bill coming up for election in Washington that may greatly affect your wine buying and I think you should simply be aware of its impacts.

This bill is a hotly debated bill in the state of Washington. Initially I thought this wouldn’t effect anyone living outside of our state, however the more I ponder this bill I think that the wine industry and our region will be very greatly affected.

The reason for the affect is that wine country is located very much on the borders of Oregon and Idaho. Many people who work in Washington wine live in Hermiston, Pendleton, and Milton Freewater.

Conversely, I also know that many people from those towns come to Costco in Washington to shop and take advantage of not paying sales tax in Washington while receiving the great prices on items that would simply cost more in those towns.

In the last election, and in the current upcoming state election Costco has mounted a full force effort at passing what is now Initiative 1183. As it stands now any store that is more than 10,000 square feet in size and wishes to participate will be allowed to sell hard liquor. It will abolish state liquor stores, and allow for individual companies to purchase the ability to operate a liquor store in the existing spaces.

The bill will also abolish the standing laws concerning wine distribution in the state, and allow retailers to purchase wines at any agreed price directly from the manufacturer. There will be no longer a need for wine distributors in the State of Washington.

“So”, you say, “How does this affect me?”

First, understand that all wine in this region is picked up from the manufacturer, delivered to a warehouse, and then distributed out to individual retailers and establishments by a bonded distributor who pays the taxes. If the bill passes these distributors will no longer be needed, especially in situations such as WalMart and other large chain stores.

Seems like a pretty good deal huh? Well, actually maybe not. The problem is that distributors make all their money on delivering their goods to the large entities. They actually lose money or barely break even on distributing to restaurants and smaller stores such as convenience stores.

When distributors are short cut by these large retailers they will no longer have any reason to carry those wines for the small people. The only answer is that wineries will have to start selling their wines door to door in order to keep smaller businesses selling their product. This will actually cost more, and hurt supply.

Second, it seems like a good deal that we’ll be able to buy booze and wine at really cheap prices from Costco. Doesn’t it? Ask the small retailer who has his kids in your classes, has you do her hair, or buys a burger every day at your drive-in. They are already hurt by Costco and WalMart’s burn and pillage methods. It’s no wonder that Costco has paid $11 million to win this campaign. They stand to earn a lot of money very quickly when they get this bill to go through.

Oh, and by the way, buying wine and booze in one state and transporting it across state lines back to Oregon is against the law in both states. I recommend buying local.

Enjoy!