Here in maine our supermarkets sell beer, wine and liquor. No problems.

I did not know this about NY. Iowa's pretty sensible about liquor. I tried to purchase three buck chuck in Minneapolis on a Sunday, and was prevented because of state laws. Don't make Jebus angry by drinking on Sunday!!

The underage drinking is bogus, what 17 year old drinks wine to get drunk?

I agree with the decision to stop the plan. The small business owners are right, they wouldn't be able to compete with the volume discounts and the ease of access would cause their business to decrease.

There is a small wine shop in my town and I love it. The have bottles floor to ceiling and the staff is extremely knowledgeable. I know nothing about wine but they always help me select a great bottle.

Small businesses are what give "main street" part of its charm. Laws like this one only serve to gentrify neighborhoods and make it harder for small businesses to survive. I will happily go to an extra store if it means superior service and a wider selection.

I buy more wine now that I live in a state that sells it in the grocery store, but i do find that having it in some of the smaller stores does sometimes limit the grocery selection.

Is Gov. Paterson blind to the fact that if he added a little extra tax to those who buy from the supermarket, they probably wouldn't mind the little extra cost for the convenience, and it would make money for the state.

@ConroyCotta: Same here in Ohio. In fact, Jungle Jim's probably has the largest supply and variety of wine available in the state...

@Jonathan Quinn: i played hockey with a 15 year old that got drunk on wine regularly.

and i agree, minnesota has some really complicated liquor laws.

@Jonathan Quinn: They have the prohibited Sunday package sales in Georgia, too. Ironically, one of the larger (if not largest) opponent groups to changing the law is liquor store owners. They claim they will lose profits if they have to stay open another day because everyone has been "trained" to make their purchases on Saturday, so sales will not necessarily go up significantly. Also, they'd be competing with grocery stores, which are already open on Sundays and can sell beer and wine.

I grew up in Massachusetts, where beer and wine were NEVER sold in convenience stores, drug stores, or supermarkets (except a very few supermarkets that had separate sections that could be closed off).

Then I moved to New York City, and every damn CVS and Duane Reade and corner bodega sells beer. Until I saw this article, I don't think I even noticed consciously that they didn't sell wine.

(Here in the VA 'burbs of DC, where I now live, every single store that sells food sells beer and wine both. And liquor stores seem to be state-owned.)

@ConroyCotta:

Same in California. Of course here in CA, other than BevMo, liquor stores tend to be rather skeezy places in bad neighborhood. Not places I would generally choose to go.

@Jonathan Quinn: Seventeen year olds who like getting drunk, I imagine. Some like the thrill of the drunk feeling and the relaxation it usually brings. You do what you got to do, and if wine is one way, the other alcoholic beverages are merely other choices to that goal.

@Etoiles: ABC is state owned and I must say every one I have ever been in is extremely depressing.I grew up in Colorado where 3.2 beer could be bought at the grocery store and beer/wine/liquor stores were closed on Sunday, but they recently reversed that

@Jonathan Quinn: My years in high school were much improved by girls who drank wine.

Wine is available in supermarkets in the SOUTH. Do we really want to be like them? Seriously?

@mergatroy6: They sell wine in the groceries here, and small independent wine stores compete just fine mainly because they sell a wider variety of more niche products rather than just wine that has more mass-market appeal (which is what the grocery stores all choose to stock). Also, they're actually cheaper than the groceries. I don't know if this is because their profit margins are smaller or what, but they manage it fine somehow.

@VideoOrItDidn'tHappen_GitEmSteveDave:

I'm not sure the constitution would allow that. Equal protection clause.

@VideoOrItDidn'tHappen_GitEmSteveDave: lol puns

@VOIDMunashii: Yea, I have to agree. To save money, you go to the grocery store (or BevMo. I love that place!). Liquor stores or gas stations are where you go when you need to pick up beer or wine last moment, most often when going to a party or something.

Poor New York!

@johnva: Oh, and I asked the owner of our favorite local wine shop one time how they do this and he said it's because they don't really compete with the grocery stores on wine sales. He said the typical customer who buys wine at the grocery is the kind of person who wants a $5-10 bottle of wine, while the typical customer at his shop is the type of customer who might buy a $50 bottle on occasion. Groceries mostly don't stock $50 bottles of wine, because their profit is based on moving lots of volume rather than making a larger profit per item.

I grew up in a North American city where alcohol cannot be sold in supermarkets. I stayed there until I was a young adult, and let me tell you, it was a bloody inconvenience to not be able to purchase wine with the rest of my groceries.

Now I live in a country in Europe where alcohol isn't regarded as such a BFD and am all the happier for it.

@Jonathan Quinn: Does Boonesfarm count?

That right there is the ultimate 2 buck chuck and yes, it was consumed in vast quantities by many teenagers during my growing up years...

@mergatroy6: And yet states where wine can be sold in grocery stores still have functioning liquor stores. Because, you know, they sell liquor and spirits along with wine. And if small business owners feel they cannot compete without some artificially imposed limit on the competition, then why should they still be in business?

@winstonthorne: I find living in the (quasi) South rather depressing and I enjoy the easy availabilty of wine and beer

@Jonathan Quinn:Goths drink wine (or they did, 20 years ago) Who says they're drinking the wine to get drunk? One sip is the same as a bottle where the law is concerned.

@VideoOrItDidn'tHappen_GitEmSteveDave: Is that some sort of a blind joke? They way I heard it was that in the usual closed door negotiations, he had to take that proposal off the table in order to get some other proposal put into the budget.

MADD not quite as bad at PETA, but close.

Thirty five other states already sell wine in supermarkets. There was a push to do this here in NY in hopes that it would expand sales and increase tax receipts from wine sales. The supermarkets would only stock top selling varieties, leaving the independent liquor stores to sell everything as before. The liquor store owners lobbied hard and managed to kill the bill.

I remember buying wine AND SPIRITS at the grocery stores in CA and HI, and it was damn convienent too.

@johnva: That makes sense, when I buy wine at the grocery store it tends to be the variety that follows the color-animal part formula (yellow tail, black swan) but if I'm getting a gift or celebrating I go to the wine shop in my neighborhood

I live in NY and used to live in CA where the supermarkets do carry wine and liqueur and I am against the carrying those products in supermarkets, I even signed a petition against and for one reason:
I support my local businesses. I do not want to see the livelihood of anyone go out the window...I mean really, do you want to buy your booze from Waldbaums, Stop and Shop or even Target???

Besides, my local liqueur store gives a $20 credit for every $200 I spend =)

@mergatroy6: My state sells wine, beer, and booze in super markets and shockingly liquor stores are still open. No grocery store is ever going to have the selection that a liquor store has.

@bdsakx: Underage drinking isn't bad in and of itself, in my opinion. It's only bad when it leads to other problems. Wine also doesn't really lend itself as well as your typical American macroswill lager to drinking to get drunk, because for me anyway it gives me a headache and stomachache to drink down a whole bottle of wine. It also has an "upscale" image. And finally I don't see that there is much evidence that teens will find it easier to get it if it's in groceries. Wine is available in groceries in numerous states, and the teenagers still don't drink it nearly as much as cheap beer.

Here in Connecticut, they can't sell wine in the grocery stores, but they can sell beer. In my experience, its significantly more expensive there, I think you actually are paying for the convenience. A 12-pack of Sam is $17 at Stop & Shop, $12 at the mom & pop shop thats literally one door down.

Unrelated, but it seems that alcohol awareness groups and the like will just automatically oppose any legislation that actually allows people to buy alcohol. If the grocery stores already sell beer, then the access is already there. Teenagers are not exactly major wine consumers.

@PerpetualBoredom: Read the posts above. They don't end up selling to the same markets.

@ConroyCotta: Michigan too. It always boggles my mind that there are states with heavily controlled liquor sales systems.

In Michigan you can get any form of alcohol at the local grocery store.

We even have one Meijer store in the GR area that has over 1,000 sq of floor space for just wine.

@SanDiegoDude:

Ha, you have got to love "wine" that come in pina colada flavor.

@cabjf: Gosh, I just hate Paterson and NY in general anymore. (Check out Patersons approval rating- I'm actually wishing for the whoring Governor to return!)

Same with GESD's comment, they raised the taxes so exorbitantly high on cigarettes that they are actually losing out on revenue when people decide to quit.

@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected:

Meh, I think they are worse. Thanks to MADD we all have to be nervous about driving home after having one beer.

@ConroyCotta: Same way here in Iowa, can get alcohol at grocery stores or gas stations. I was visiting a friend in Minnesota recently and we went to the grocery store to get food then had to go to a connected liquor store (same owner as the grocery store) to buy the beer. I don't understand the logic in this.

@ConroyCotta: Same in South Carolina. Of course, SC still has some wacky blue laws and bars still serve liquor in minibottles, but it's SO nice to be able to get champagne at Target!

@Snakeophelia: Actually, SC finally killed the minibottle law a few years ago.

Pennsylvania is THE WORST. Grocery stores sell nothing alcoholic. Cases of beer can be bought only at case stores. State-run liquor stores carry wine and liquor. And if you want a six-pack of beer, you have to go to A BAR. So, yes, if you're planning a party where you need orange juice, wine, vodka, and a case of Bud, you're talking four different stops.

On my one and only visit to Arizona, I stopped in at a Walgreen's with a full-service liquor store attached to it that was open on a Sunday. THAT is how civilized people live.

@winstonthorne: "Seriously?"

Please tell me you're not really serious. Try "Come ON :)" or "Ya Know?"

Yes - because underage kids are just clawing at themselves to get a good dessert wine.

"(uh, know any teens who crack open a bottle of Merlot on a Friday night?)"

Back when I was a teen, the wines that made their way to a party on a Friday night were usually of the boxed variety.

@ConroyCotta: Same thing in Florida. Florida has problems, but selling wine in supermarkets didn't cause them.

@cabjf: Exactly.

Grocery stores in Ohio can sell wine and beer, but no liquor. Mom and pop shops still do just fine in ohio, and I can promise you that I have never once seen someone go to the store, buy a bottle of wine, get in their car, down it, and then drive off.

Here in NJ, there's some crazy law where some grocery stores can sell wine but not others. I'm not sure of the details, but none of the stores near my house sell wine, so I have to make two stops each week. Very annoying.

From time to time, I'll go to the Wegman's that *does* sell wine, and I can't think of any good reason why NJ couldn't allow every Wegman's to operate just like that. Honestly, what reason could there be? Don't even try to tell me that underage kids are somehow purchasing wine from Wegman's.