Alcohol Could Be Sold In Florida Grocery Stores This Year
By Dusty Ricketts, NW Florida Daily News, February 19, 2015
TALLAHASSEE — Cash Moore, owner of liquor stores throughout Northwest Florida, believes the day when shoppers will be able to purchase liquor inside their favorite grocery store is coming.
And that worries him.
A new measure that would allow shoppers to buy liquor inside grocery stores was approved by the House Business & Professions Subcommittee on Wednesday and could be voted on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives later this year.
“It’s hard enough for me to make money in the liquor business anymore,” Moore said. “That’s the reason just about all of my locations have a sports bar next to it. I have to have a double income to pay off that license. Walmart, they don’t (have that problem).”
The bill, which would remove an 80-year-old state law that requires liquor stores to be stand-alone facilities, has drawn opposition from independent liquor stores, some county sheriffs and Lakeland-based Publix.
Meanwhile, support for the measure has come from retailers including Walmart and Target.
“I can compete with anybody with my specials,” Moore said. “We have senior days and military days and when we do that our prices are usually lower than anybody else. I don’t mind being competitive and I’m big enough to be competitive, but when it comes to the big boys… in my opinion: it’s just a matter of time (before they will be able to sale liquor inside).”
The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, must still go through the Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and the Regulatory Affairs Committee, which local Rep. Matt Gaetz sits on, before it can reach the House floor.
Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said he’s still undecided on the measure, but he does expect it to eventually land on the House floor.
“I get very concerned about any changes to alcohol laws,” Gaetz said. “There’s too many possibilities for unintended consequences to be impulsive about these decisions.”
Most of the comments on the Northwest Florida Daily News’ Facebook page were in favor of the change to allow grocery stores to sell liquor.
“I moved here from Louisiana and we could buy liquor in (Walmart) there,” wrote Bayb Heart of Fort Walton Beach. “It was odd when I moved back here in 2002 and couldn’t get my booze in the supermarket. I’d like to have it all in one store.”
Publix lobbyist Teye Reeves told The News Service of Florida that the company’s business model has been to separate its liquor stores from the main grocery operations.
“At the end of the day, Walmart has a very specific business model and Publix does not have the same business model, and we’re concerned that it will put us at a competitive disadvantage,” Reeves said.
But retailers that support the change say their customers are looking for increased convenience.
“A change to Florida’s outdated separation law would remove impediments, expand consumer choice, and level the playing field for all grocery retailers across the state, all while ensuring safeguards and security remain in place,” Walmart spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in an email.
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