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PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE
o f f - p r em i s e a l c oho l ta s t i ng s
hu g e w i n f o r A GA
ELLIE SMOTHERMAN TAYLOR
PRESIDENT
ALABAMA GROCERS ASSOCIATION
Alcohol seems to always be a hotly
contested debate in our state. Whether it
be for privatization, the three-tier system
or now to allow alcohol sales for grocery
delivery, I know our members will always
be engaged when it comes to the sale of
alcohol.
Perhaps this goes all the way to our
prohibition days when we were told that it
was not allowed and the government had
the right to take it away from us.
This year we took on the fight for the
ability of off-premise license stores to
do tastings for beer and wine. For years,
grocery stores with on-premise licenses
have been doing alcohol tastings. But
several years ago, when the Alabama
Legislature passed higher alcohol content
beer and wines, the ABC Board changed
the ABC regulations for an on-premise
license.
These changes included mandates for
an area no smaller than 500 square
feet and seating for 16 per ABC Board
Administrative Code Chapter 20-x-6,
effective May 7, 2010.
To meet these new qualifications, grocery
stores would have to spend great expense
for costly upgrades so any stores with new
remodels or new stores coming into the
market would not qualify. Grocery stores
operate on a less than 1% profit margin
and utilize every square foot of the store
for sales.
Stores were being forced to choose
between square footage to sell goods to
consumers or empty space with chairs
and tables for a one day, two-hour, once a
week tasting.
In the 2016 Legislative Session, SB 219,
sponsored by Senator Billy Beasley,
allowed off premise state stores and
private liquor stores the ability to do
tastings for liquor and wine. This initiated
talks with our Association and the
Alabama ABC Board.
We believed this legislation gave state
ABC locations and private liquor stores a
competitive advantage over other stores
in the state that sold wine and beer. We
also began talks with both Senator Jabo
Waggoner and Representative David
Faulkner who agreed to sponsor SB 5 and
HB 134 respectively in the 2017 Legislative
Session that would allow off-premise
licensees to hold tastings for both wine
and beer.
Through meetings with ABC
Administrator Mac Gipson, Assistant
Administrator WilliamThigpen and
ABC staff, an agreement was made to
work together and make these important
changes through ABC Regulation and
legislation would not be required.
These regulations are now effective after
two votes at ABC Board Meetings on
March 1, 2017 and June 14, 2017 including
time for a comment period and a 45-
day wait after regulations are sent to the
Legislative Reference Service.
These regulations will be effective on
August 5, 2017, and can be found in the
Alabama Administrative Code 20-x-7.07
(Wine) and 20-x-7-.10 (Beer).
This is a HUGE win for our Association
and it would not be possible without the
relationships we build all year with our
Legislators and State Regulatory Agencies.
Big thanks go to Senator Jabo Waggoner,
Representative David Faulkner, Attorney
Paul DeMarco, Legislative Consultant
Pat McWhorter and all our member
companies who fought so hard to make
this happen.
One of my favorite benjamin franklin quotes is "In
wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in
water there is bacteria." I guess this is true for
alcohol lovers.
| ALABAMA GROCER
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