Why does this law exist? Its kickass none the less, but I'm curious of why it's possible.

I used to work at Costco and I've never heard of this. Then again, I worked at the one in oregon and that's not any of the states listed here.

At my local CostCo in Fort Worth, Tx. they actually have an entrance to the liquor sales store separate from the entrance to CostCo itself.

I have found that some of the finer quality cases of beer that can be found within CostCo are not always in the external liquor store which is ran by Western Beverages at my local location.

Great deals though for sure. I couldn't imagine buying the same amount of Makers Mark at a normal package store.

I'm not sure of the law, but I have a friend who claims to do this at Costco in Florida. Here, the booze is in a separate store right next to the regular Costco.

Are the prices really worth the effort? I mean, I'm down with sticking it to the man and his "Members only" policy, but is going past a couple state/grocery/county stores to get to said warehouse worth the trip?

They post signs in both stores to this effect. Been this way for years and years! You can even buy the BEER inside the main store (since most of the time the liquor store at the entrance is just the hard stuff) by telling the greeter that you are just there for the booze and they will let you by.

I was shopping yesterday in Sam's Club and actually saw a giant sign posted over the beer & wine section pointing out that alcohol can be purchased without a membership.

I thought a costco membership was a prerequisite for reading this site :-)
(FYI: Kirklands brand 18 year old scotch that they're carrying right now is actually The MacAllan 18 year old sherry cask scotch, just for half the price)

It's kind of obnoxious to do this. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's fair to the store.

Good luck actually getting through the front door without a membership though.

@George Gdovin: I found that over the holidays in a Sam's Club in Delaware as well.

Didn't that law stem from the amendment of the prohibition? Not sure about that though.

Im in Colorado and our local Costco has a seperate entrance for the liquor section and is available without a membership. The wine is much cheaper than a liquor stor and the hard alcohol is cheaper as well. The beer was about the same cost but they have mixed boxes from different breweries which I cant at local stores.

@Suttin: Since most blue laws are about restricting alcohol sales I'm gonna guess it was originally meant to curb the sale of alcohol via clubs that could offer large discounts on booze and allow people to purchase large quantities.

Ironically it looks like it might actually do the opposite, but that's why most blue laws have been repealed, they're just dumb. My favorite repealed law here in MA was when liquor stores had to be closed on Sunday. This forced those who'd like to have a few drinks to drive to the bar and get drunk rather than doing so at home. Brilliant!

You can also buy stuff from their cell phone kiosk in the store at Sam's. Its a subsidary of radio shack and usually has much better phones and you don't have to wait on rebates. I buy my phones outright from there.

@George Gdovin: Costco doesn't do this out of the goodness of their heart. In Texas (as in several other states), "hard liquor" (spirits) can only be sold from 10am to 9pm Monday through Saturday; beer and wine is different. Either requires a separate license, and if you sell liquor you must either have a way to completely close off the liquor section outside of sales hours or the entire facility must be closed. If you go the "close off the liquor section route," then there must be a separate TABC license (and, usually, city permit) for the beer/wine "store" and the liquor "store," which is why Western Beverages runs the spirits side.

Not sure about other states, but in Texas the same goes for prescription drugs...you don't have to have a membership to get them filled at Sam's or the other places.

Now if only Maryland would allow them to sell in the store. I was in Arizona and I so wanted that bottle of Patron for $99 because it was way less than buying the same amount at a liquor store.

In Michigan Costco has a large sign near the entrance that informs people of this. At the two that I visit there is not a separate booze store near the front. All of the booze is near the meat in the back.

You can also buy prescriptions from Costco pharmacy without a membership. I called the pharmacy and they said just to come in and pick it up and let the guard/greeter know I was headed to the pharmacy.

The "greeter" was uninformed about this policy and was super aggro. The veins in her temples looked about to rupture when I walked past her to the pharmacy.

That trip would definitely be more enjoyable with a buzz on.

Connecticut Costco doesn't sell alcohol.

I'm not sure if the law has changed, but when I was in college in Charleston, South Carolina, Sam's used to have a giant sign saying that you did not need a membership to buy either tobacco or alcohol in the state of South Carolina. There are a few Costco's in South Carolina. Maybe we can use the new, fancy factcheckers to see if there is a law on the books.

NJ left out again.

I dare anyone to try this in the Tustin, CA store. I can't even get lunch from there without a card.

@uconn: The one in Milford at least used to sell alcohol. Not sure if it still does.

@ChrisC1234: ... which is why you let the greeter know why you're entering and bring a copy of the article with you just in case they don't know of the law.

Of course, if you had read the last paragraph of the post here, let alone the article, you'd have known this already.

@Underpants Gnome: Except for those of us who are more than a few hours drive from the nearest Costco...

I'm in California, and I have been doing this for quite some time. The employees seem to be familiar enough with the rule, although I haven't seen any signs informing the general public. As mentioned above, similar laws also apply to prescriptions at the pharmacy.

Florida is one of the states that doesn't require membership in order to purchase alcohol. The Tallahassee Sam's (and at least one of the Orlando) Sam's have massive signs hanging from the ceiling indicating "membership not required to purchase alcohol". However, the signs are located *inside* the store, where non-members wouldn't see them unless they explicitly said they were entering to buy alcohol.

@Suttin: Liquor sales are licensed separately than general sales. In states that were particularly restrictive about this, it's not unusual for the "liquor" part of the store to be physically separated from the rest of the store and have separate cashiers, or even to have a separate entrance.

Presumably in these states, the liquor license won't allow you to do "membership only" sales -- it's a general license or nothing. In states where alcohol has been at grocery stores for evers and evers, it seems to occur much less often.

Minnesota Sam's Clubs all have signs about being able to buy booze without a membership. They also have separate entrances- but that's Minnesota state law.
Unfortunately, they don't sell beer in a 6-pack. And thier wine prices aren't always that great (aside from super popular stuff like Yellowtail).

@Hooray4Zoidberg: We still have that idiotic law that forces liquor stores to close on Sundays here in Texas. Thankfully our state is getting more progressive, though the old guard in politics is sure making it as difficult as possible for us to drag this state into the 21st century.

We used to swing by BJ's for liquor when we were traveling through Delaware. Bonus points for no sales tax!

@Darascon: Depends on liquor taxes, how many local liquor stores there are, etc., etc., etc.

Where I am, the supermarket has a comprehensive liquor section and the prices are very reasonable. It's not really worth going to the club stores or the liquor warehouse (unless you need something really specific from the liquor warehouse). Where my parents are, even with comprehensive liquor in the supermarket, it's TOTALLY worth going to the Costco or the liquor discount warehouse. But they tend to do stock-ups a couple times a year at the cheap places instead of just dropping by for a bottle of wine or two. It's not worth the gas for that.

@Underpants Gnome: And the Kirkland vodka is distilled by Grey Goose, and I think even smoother! We did a blind taste test to prove it, no one could tell which was which.

@Darascon: Oh yes.. it definitely is.. especially if you're looking to buy liquor and not just beer. For example, my dear Jack Daniel "Single Barrel" costs $45+ in Frys and 50-55+ in liquor stores. In costco, I've picked it up for 35 or so. In fact, during last year's holiday season, I picked up three bottles of "Single Barrel", "Gentleman" and 'Regular' for 70 bucks.. with collector's shot glasses thrown in. Anywhere outside costco, I'd have been poorer by atleast 50-60 dollars.

Add Tennessee to the states that you can buy liquor from Costco without a membership. Costco doesn't actually own the liquor store because of stupid state liquor laws that protect the existing alcohol industry from competition. The liquor stores at Costco in Memphis, TN are independently operated, and are adjacent to the main Costco building. I don't know about the availability of liquor outside Memphis. Sam's Clubs in Memphis don't have adjacent liquor stores. Wine in TN is sold only in liquor stores so the same rules apply.

It would be nice for a Consumerist reporter to do a story about how 3 tiered distribution systems created by regulation protect the liquor industry from outside competitors. Instead of protecting the consumer, the consumer is force to purchase from what essentially is a liquor cartel. I've worked in both liquor service, as bartender, and retail at a liquor store and I've witnessed how the cartel operates to lock competitors out of the market and stick it to the consumer.

@zarex42: If they post signs in their stores saying they allow liquor sales without a membership, how is it not fair. In fact, one might even argue that it's in the members-only club's best interest to do this. They get people in the store who otherwise might not visit, and potentially lure them to the dark side.

@corinthos: Not ALL of them are run by Radio Shack anymore, the one I work at is owned by Sam's and Walmart, but we still have pretty stellar deals on phones, outright or not.

@George Gdovin: The Costco in Newark, DE also has a separate entrance, and they rarely have asked for my Costco card - and now I know why!

@elocanth: We here in GA have the same law. What's worse is that we were close to getting it repealed a few years ago through majority support in one side of the state legislature (I forget which), but the governor said very publicly that he'd veto it. His reason? A bunch of BS including "it encourages people to plan their purchases."

Yay for backward society!

It's been this way in Michigan forever. I thought it was common knowledge.

There's not, though, much to be gained, as the state liquor control commission enforces minimum sale prices (entire catalogue is available on line with prices!) for all liquor (not beer or table wine). And many, many, many places already sell it at the state minimum.

For the Canadian readers of Consumerist, I don't know about other provinces, but the same applies here in Alberta.

@courtarro:
Indiana has a similar "no alcohol sales on Sunday" law.

The highways on the Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky borders are flush with liquor stores.

We get a fraction of that money back when citizens of those states come to Indiana for the fireworks. Indiana made it illegal to detonate certain fireworks, but didn't outlaw the sale. So you can buy almost anything there, as long as you state the intent to set them off in a legal state or (recently) designated area.

@George Gdovin: This is true and well-known in San Antonio. Heck, the liquor section is in an entirely separate building! (sharing one wall)

@Darascon: In states like Texas that don't allow hard liquor sales in grocery stores, the price difference compared to Dons and Bens (or whatever local liquor store) is worth the drive, especially on "call" liquors like Jack or Jim or Svedka or whatever. Sometimes they have incredible sale prices on overstocked top-shelf liquors, as well.

@ChrisC1234: BJ's doesn't check your membership at the door...or anywhere really unless you go through a manned register. Even then, they don't really look at it.

@elocanth: In Arkansas, you can't buy any alcohol whatsoever on Sunday. None at all. Gas stations and grocery stores have huge signs "NO ALCOHOL SALES ON SUNDAY."

Naturally, everyone who sees these signs goes immediately to church, where they should have been all along.

@Darascon: Depends on how much you drink :-D

And I'm sure the warehouses really don't mind this because if you are in the stores buying the booze, you might be more likely to sign up for a membership after seeing the amazing amounts you can save on 25 lbs of ketchup.