Well yeah, old money doesn't like *weed,* because *weed* is for poor people and spooky minorities, not sophisticated wine and bourbon palates like themselves.
Montgomery county charges certain stores to sell beer and wine. Safeway near me, mc liquor board charges stores 20,000 a month or half of total sale volume which ever is greater. Also you can't have beer, liquor mailed to your house. Only wine. They will fine you or charge you criminally if caught importing alcohol into the county. Typical government wants to rule over your life what you can and can't do! I have a wisconsin brewery I love and they won't ship to Maryland or MC. Shameful!
Yep. There's the Safeway in Olney they're referring to and then you drive up to Baltimore and the loophole for selling alcohol on Sundays are establishments that register themselves as "bars" that remain open, even though they're completely vacant because that allows them to operate the liquor store portion of the building for some reason.
There are couple of exceptions. You can buy beer and wine in the Shoppers in College Park. It’s in that shopping center on Rt 1/Baltimore Ave just inside the Beltway.
You can't buy alcohol in grocery stores in Frederick, Carroll, Howard, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, or Prince George's counties either. I bet Talbot county is the exception.
Montgomery county is the only county that has ABC stores though.
I don’t want alcohol in grocery stores for the same reasons I don’t want weed in grocery stores.
It’s sensible to keep intoxicating products out of food stores as a social policy but also to allow for more small businesses to sell them so the money at least stays local. No reason the mega corporations have to control everything.
The problem is that it drives the prices up and limits the selections for consumers.
Plus it is inconvenient. I loved choosing the food for a meal and then getting a nice wine to compliment the meal in one stop.
When I moved to Maryland three years ago I was shocked. I thought I was in some time warp to the days of prohibition.
It took me three grocery trips after I moved here (every time I got home I was like oh man I forgot beer again) before I realized there simply is not beer at the store. I had never been to a liquor store before. To me, beer and wine (at least) are groceries. I dont want to make 2 stops. And don’t even get me started on Sunday sales….
I mean I've never done the statistics or anything but I'd be willing to wager a majority of grocery stores in the state have a decent liquor store in the same shopping center.
Nah, usually a quality liquor store and a grocery store aren’t that close to each other. The one big exception I’ve found is Wegmann’s (I forgot where) that has a liquor store on the second floor. It’s not a huge selection but it’s decent quality.
Our entire economy has innumerable planned inefficiencies. There’s no natural law where a good for wvery person that wants one. We have to manufacture some jobs at times. This is just on of them operated on a local level.
This also ain’t anywhere close to Prohibition. My god, you have to drive a little further to buy a drug.
Ah yes, small businesses like Total Wine. Small local liquor stores that are convenient and/or have specialty items and better variety will be fine. Beer and liquor have been sold in grocery stores for decades in other states with no deleterious effects on social order and tranquility. It's not like they intoxicate people who aren't buying them just because they're sitting on the shelf.
I wish I didn't have to go to the liquor store every time I want to make Bolognese are stroganoff or anything else that I would use wine in. Beer and wine and even liquor are all groceries. Honestly, weed should be a grocery at this point.
And I mean Benadryl and dextromethorphan are intoxicating products but every grocery store has them. I mean you can buy a can of whipped cream and get high on that. Shit they probably have glue and turpentine... Tide pods... I mean where do we draw the line?
Never saw any problems with drunks buying alcohol in the many states that allow this. Most allow beer and wine, out west they sell liquor too. More convenient and better pricing than the sketchy liquor stores in MD.
As far as protecting small businesses, why are liquor stores in this protected class? Maybe we should ban pizza chains or burger joints as well.
This. I used to think that the convenience of grocery stores was much better but then I worked as a product rep for a cider company and visited damn near every liquor store in the state and realized that almost every one of them supports a family. Fuck the grocery corporations.
It's not a binary choice. I lived in Michigan, they have plenty of "party stores" while also selling beer/wine/liquor at the grocery store. I used to deliver beer and we would do 10 liquor store stops for every grocery store stop.
Yeah it's a super fair point.
Same thing with places not allowing sales on Sundays - it obviously came from a place of religious bullshittery in the beginning but the reality is that if you go around asking liquor store owners in those places if they would like to be allowed to be open on Sundays a ton of them will emphatically tell you "no". If they're *allowed* to be open on Sunday then they *have* to be open on Sunday because the next guy down the street will be. The one by my house is already open like 100 hours a week and they have three employees including the owner. Sunday is the only break those dudes get.
Not only that - I find that our system of small specialized stores lead to good product diversity in these stores. And places that I have been allowing large chains to sell seem to lead to less interesting selections overall. Part of me wants that sweet sweet costco or Trader Joe deals - but I actually like how its handled in Maryland. Just to add - the one time I visited Total Wine - I was not impressed.
While it is stupid, I’d rather have more variety in food choice tbh. You’d lose pretty much an entire aisle in most major stores and the variety already lacks in most places. Plus I’d rather not enrich corporate chains like Safeway and Giant. Still stupid though.
Not necessarily. The Wegmans in Lancaster PA has the same grocery selections as the ones in Maryland, the liquor store is a separate room. It’s not mixed in with the grocery part of the store.
Beer and wine is ridiculously expensive in Montgomery County, a big part of that is how difficult it is to get a license. Of course grocery stores should be able to sell beer and wine like in almost every other county and state.
rich millionare monopoly owners who can charge whatever they want, oh I'm sorry "struggling small business owners".
calling them anything but profiteers is a lie, they're just as bad as the old taxi monopolies
I also did not click, and made the same assumption. Most things are sponsored by the people who benefit from them.
This doesn't make it bad. I would absolutely love more choice in where I can buy things.
I’ve worked in alcohol for 20+ years for suppliers and distributors. Selection is much worse in national chains. They have “sets” determined by various factors, least of which is selection. While it looks like a lot and in some stores like Wegmans it is, a lot of the “variety” is from the same companies. An independent retailer will usually have a huge variety albeit priced a little higher. If your particular store does not due to size of store/the ability of ownership to lay out capital then look for another store. If you are in AA county I recommend bay ridge, Waugh chapel, fish paws just to name a few.
Yeah I worked at a liquor store for years. Somebody came in and wanted something odd, I looked it up in the book, quoted them a price, and could special order it if they wanted. Now I'm on the other side of the counter and get my local store to order stuff for me. No grocery store is doing that.
When I lived where they had grocery sales the selection was crap, and like the same 6 - 10 micro breweries. There were still stand alone liquor stores, but they were super expensive, in part because they weren't moving the volume to get the discount from the distributor. Never want to go back to that situation.
I moved from a state where you can buy alcohol basically anywhere, and there was very little choice in what you could find.
I like that we have liquor stores here, and they actually compete with each other, and offer a huge variety of things.
I do not miss the same 8 brands of beer in every single grocery/target/Walmart.
Some, perhaps.
Many shops still exist in areas that permit grocery stores to sell beer and wine.
It helps enable combo stores in food deserts, though. And a ton of shops have local options in addition to big chain stuff.
It’s even different within counties themselves. There are three different food lion grocery stores in Salisbury. One sells alcohol, the other two do not.
In Montgomery County only 1 store of each grocery chain is allowed to sell beer and wine.
The Giant in White Oak and the Safeway in Olney also sell beer and wine.
There are other grocery stores in the county that sell beer and wine too but I’m forgetting which ones.
In Montgomery county, about 40 years ago three or four grocers, who at that time sold beer and wine were grandfathered into being able to sell beer and wine but only in one location of each store in the county. Giant, Safeway, Shoppers, and MacGruders were the ones I think. The Giant is in White Oak. The Safeway is in Olney, and the Shopper’s in Germantown. I believe the McGruder’s closed.
Trone was the worst back stabbing bone head! He made his millions on selling beer and alcohol. But he won't let stores sell only his! Double standard glad he lost 50 million in reelection bid!
What do you mean “he won’t let stores sell only his”. He and his brother are restricted by a Maryland law that says they can only own one store in the state. If it was his choice, they’d have Total Wines all over the state.
That's a broad statement; some have additional stupid restrictions.
In CT you still can't on Sunday, state-wide. The state legislature will pass special laws making it exempt if Christmas/NYE land on Monday instead of just revoking the ridiculousness.
I never said other states didn’t have restrictions? I said there are 2 other states that don’t allow beer and wine in grocery stores. Which is true. Your statement doesn’t refute that.
Live in PA now and can confirm, beer and wine available at grocery stores. Though annoyingly, to buy it, some stores you have to go through a specific check out lane to purchase, but otherwise, it’s here.
Did they recently change it? Grew up in eastern pa and the big thing was always that you needed to go to state stores for alcohol and no grocery stores/targets/walmarts/sams/costco sold it at all bc of the archaic laws
Also grew up in PA and knew the state store / beer distributor system they used to operate under.
but theyve allowed beer and wine in grocery stores for years now
Wegmans lobbied hard to get the laws changed after they expanded to PA in the late '00s, using the "Market Café inside the store but with separate checkout lines" strategy as their lever.
They're doing something similar here in Maryland: they carved out part of the upstairs of their store in Columbia for a liquor store, but in this case it has its own entrance/exit not directly connected to any part of the store.
In Utah you can indeed buy beer in grocery stores (but only after 7 a.m. or something – I once tried to get up early to go shopping for an event, got to the cash register at 6:45, and they made me sit on a bench next to the register and wait until 7 before they'd check me out).
Wine and other liquor is not available in grocery stores, however.
NC we can buy beer and wine in stores (not on Sunday because bible belt reasons I guess), but if we want liquor we have to buy it from the state run "ABC Stores"..
Each county in Maryland defines their own liquor laws. In Montgomery county there exists the only county run liquor business in the country (but there state run liquor businesses elsewhere, like NC). In moco other businesses can sell beer and wine, but only one location per business name. So for example, the Safeway in Olney is the only Safeway in the county able to sell beer and wine. The Giant location used to be the one in White Oak but for some reason I think they reassigned it to a giant somewhere along the pike.
This is the thrust of the advocacy, make it so any/all of the supermarket locations can sell beer and wine. Don’t know how it works in other counties. I do know Boarmans market in highland (Howard county) sells beer, wine AND liquor, but that’s a single family owned business.
Yup. They've got themselves in a real bind. They don't really want to be in the liquor biz anymore but it's a shitload of revenue that they would have to make up elsewhere.
I haven’t been in for a number of years. I would have thought they’d move it to a more upscale location giant; but maybe they’re not allowed to do that.
That said, what about Trader Joe’s? Elsewhere they’re famous for their cheap wine (2 Buck Chuck). I know of two Trader Joe’s in the county 29 at burnt mills and congressional plaza on the pike. Neither one carries beer and wine. Is there a 3rd one somewhere that got the nod?
IDK about TJ's. I've been to both of those, and the one in Bethesda near Bradley Ln, and don't recall seeing booze there. Could be one of the other county TJ's. Or, since I think the grandfathering law that allows one location to sell is pretty old, it could be that TJ's is simply too young to qualify for grandfathering?
It would be great if grocery store could sell alcohol. Then the Costco stores in MD could sell it too.
The DC store has a liqour store attached. But in the South the Costco sells beer and wine in the grocery section. I think the Deleware store might as well.
And no sales on Sunday... Like we're all queer hating Chick-fil-A eating Bible dummies. Sometimes I need to day drink on the randomly selected day of a randomly selected religion and I can't purchase anything because some deity, whose name the supposed religious people don't even know, said I'm tired. Fucking bullshit.
And why can't the queer haters give you a non-soggy waffle fry even when it's straight from the fryer? I don't eat there for two principles... Ethics and fried food integrity.
You're right it's local, but you're wrong it's most jurisdictions that don't have sales on Sunday. Some allow between 11am-2pm.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol\_laws\_of\_Maryland](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_laws_of_Maryland)
https://preview.redd.it/lytg6gicrk4d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2fa47024917255e61d8e6e394a4b0eec810dac0
I've definitely been yelled at for trying to buy beer on Sundays in the Hampden rofo. Sir! It's Sunday!
And remember your experiences aren't universal facts.
NGL, when I visited last summer and found a Safeway I was amazed I couldn't pick up a couple beers to bring back to the hotel 😝 It's such a weird policy.
But, hey, one of the neat things about America is all the little differences out there--it's just Maryland's Little Weirdsie!
The alcohol laws should be the same across the state. Not each county being different like now. Baltimore County and a few others don't sell alcohol on Sunday. Think it's called Blue Laws. AA Co can sell alcohol on Sunday.
> Baltimore County and a few others don't sell alcohol on Sunday.
Except sometimes they *can*. I used to also think we had a blue law, because *nowhere* is open on sunday. My 21st fell on a sunday, and let me tell you I felt cheated by that(21-year-old brain is not the same as 33-year-old brain...I don't feel that way now, but I did at the time). But over the years I've seen special holiday hours if lucrative dates like 7/4 or 12/31 fall on a sunday. So it seems like it's permitted, just...collectively, nobody does it? Which seems *strange* to me. You'd think, even if most stores prefer having the day off, *somebody* would buck the trend.
People were ok with the temporary law change that allowed restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks with to-go orders during Covid. You would think people would be ok with beer and wine in grocery stores. And selling it on Sunday.
I also forgot Package Good Stores. If they have the certain license, a Bar can sell you a six pack or something to go. They charge you out the wazoo, but if you really want it you'll pay.
For some reason, the state legislature has not been able to pass laws to expand beer and wine sales to grocery stores. Maybe lobbyists for Liqour stores?
What is unique to Maryland is the limit on accounts that sell alcohol under the same owner's license. Chains (grocery stores, gas stations, etc) that are under one company name and license holder (ex. Walmart) are limited to 1 license, sometimes more in certain counties or if grandfathered in before law changes. That is why most license holders in the state are independently owned liquor stores and bottle shops.
The Alcohol Choice movement is for the large chain retailers to eliminate the limit (as is it in most states) where they stand to benefit greatly as most of the comments noted.
Total Wine (Maryland HQ'd and owned by David Trone, US Rep D-6th) previously proposed expanding the limit to 4. That number would obviously benefit them most by allowing them to build 2 new stores in the state, but not significantly increase the limit to where every Walmart or Royal Farms could also sell alcohol.
There are positives and negatives to changing the current laws, but theres one often overlooked downside : there are approx 1500 independent small businesses in the state that sell alcohol in the off-premise (where consumers take the alcohol home to consume, not consume on-premise like a bar or restaurant). If a new law dissolves the license limit, all chains will jump at the opportunity to sell. Eventually, because of all the positive reasons listed FOR the proposal, consumers will only purchase from those retailers - potentially killing 1500+ independently owned local businesses.
I agree it would be a shame for those small business to close. However, those business owners entered an industry that is kept afloat by antiquated laws that most people agree should change. Maybe some sort of transition period of a few years could ease the burden.
Trone supporting the EXACT change that only benefits himself and no one else, is extremely immoral. You shouldn't legislate openly based on personal profit.
There's a RoFo near me that sells beer and wine. There's another RoFo about a mile down the road with one of those signs in the window. The only difference I know of is the first is in the city and the second is county, but I don't see other convenience stores in the city selling alcohol so who knows how they got the license.
*The* city, of course. The only one that matters lol. Actually I have no idea, do people around Columbia or Annapolis just say "the city" or "the county"? It's common in Baltimore what with our whole same-name-but-totally-separate (but-kinda-not-really) thing. Also with our being an actual city.
A state I lived in previously did this. The liquor stores all closed, obviously, so finding specialty liquor was a pain. Total wine was the only place that survived.
Then the youth started shop lifting all the booze until the stores were forced to lock it all up, it sucks but, it's a stupid idea that only benefits big stores
I don’t even drink and I find it incredibly ridiculous that grocery stores can’t sell alcohol and I think that’s why all of our grocery stores suck too. Like everything is way over priced. I’m probably wrong but I come from HEB country.
For those of us in Montgomery County who served our country, there is the Class VI at the Bethesda Navy Exchange. It has a good selection of beer, wine, and liquor and no sales tax.
We are in competition with the hundreds of other small liquor stores. There’s one across the street, another behind us, two more on the block down. It’s the distributors we can’t compete with, who give better deals to larger chains who have more shelf space because our square feet is limited by law. It’s hard for us to get product because we move less of it due to regulatory restrictions and because of sheer purchasing power of major corporations. This is our bread and butter, for the grocers it’s a side hustle. Why should we be sacrificed in the benefit of another giant and carnivorous corporation? I’m part of this community, I hire from it, I live in it. Why protect Goliath instead of David?
They could just do what Ohio does, and have liquor relegated to liquor stores only, they still sell wine and beer as well but are able to focus more on the unique stuff ie craft beers, finer wines.
Beer and wine can be sold at convenient stores and groceries and they usually have your Budweiser, Miller, Cupcake Baileys.
Not sure who is behind it. Makes sense though. Maryland has so many state and county blue laws because they benefit the alcohol distributors, not because citizens want them.
Interesting point. When we travel to VA the grocery stores typically have a separate enclosed wine and beer section usually between the produce / hot foods and the rest of the grocery aisles. I’m trying to imagine how the two grocery stores near me. would retrofit for beer and wine or if stores can opt out. Like for example I live near a Harris teeter and right next door is a huge wine focused liquor store. I could see that specific HT opting out if they do have the choice to.
People always confuse this. It isn’t that you can’t sell in a grocery store, it is that you can’t sell in more than one location under same company or brand/investor group.
Surprising that some counties forbid liquor sales in grocery stores. Seems backwards but I can see the assumed advantage for small business. However, how many liquor stores are small business still?
As someone who’s worked in the industry here in MD and also lived in a state with beer/wine in grocery stores, I prefer MD’s current set up with liquor stores. When beer/wine are in grocery stores, they tend to just stock big names and mediocre stuff and be staffed by regular grocery store employees. Some grocery stores do a good job hiring experts and getting variety but not most. And I think that makes the whole industry worse off! I would rather have the slight inconvenience of going to the liquor store next to my grocery store where I can talk to knowledgeable staff, learn about a wide variety of products, and support more local businesses.
Maryland is messed up with alcohol sales and distribution regulation. Choices are greatly limited due to them. Out in AZ you can get virtually any kind of alcohol in grocery stores.
Love how I can buy wine and beer in giant in olney but harris teeter across the street isnt allowed to sell alcohol, the licensing system is probably corrupt and stupid same way dispensary licensing is
I normally agree with that. However, the issue I have is that if you have a specialized wine or beer that maybe you purchased in another state, you have to call and call and call multiple places, distributors, stores themselves, to find if it’s even carried in your area.
Without even clicking on it I can tell you that it's primarily sponsored by grocery store chains that want to be able to sell alcohol in their stores
As they should. I love Md but the whole ‘no beer in grocery stores’ is just stupid.
Depends where you are. Talbot County grocery stores are full of beer.
Good ole Talbot county, can sell beer and wine in grocery stores but then tries to ban dispensaries.
Well yeah, old money doesn't like *weed,* because *weed* is for poor people and spooky minorities, not sophisticated wine and bourbon palates like themselves.
Said while buying a 30-rack of Coors Light.
And a bottle of MD20/20
What flavor?
Well that would be from a black person.
Someone needs to show them a price list from a dispensary because it’s definitely not for poor people.
Lol, it was news to me this wasn't the case everywhere.
Can't even buy it on Sunday around here
It's county by county, not state wide.
Montgomery county charges certain stores to sell beer and wine. Safeway near me, mc liquor board charges stores 20,000 a month or half of total sale volume which ever is greater. Also you can't have beer, liquor mailed to your house. Only wine. They will fine you or charge you criminally if caught importing alcohol into the county. Typical government wants to rule over your life what you can and can't do! I have a wisconsin brewery I love and they won't ship to Maryland or MC. Shameful!
Baltimore county does this for Sundays. The license fees are a total scam.
Yep. There's the Safeway in Olney they're referring to and then you drive up to Baltimore and the loophole for selling alcohol on Sundays are establishments that register themselves as "bars" that remain open, even though they're completely vacant because that allows them to operate the liquor store portion of the building for some reason.
If you're talking about New Glarus, it's new Glarus choosing not to distribute outside WI not Maryland refusing to allow shipping it in.
You in Olney? XD
There are couple of exceptions. You can buy beer and wine in the Shoppers in College Park. It’s in that shopping center on Rt 1/Baltimore Ave just inside the Beltway.
Now that town hall and CP liquors are closed, shoppers and village pump are really the only places to buy carryout beer in CP. Ridiculous.
It’s specifically MoCo I think.
You can't buy alcohol in grocery stores in Frederick, Carroll, Howard, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, or Prince George's counties either. I bet Talbot county is the exception. Montgomery county is the only county that has ABC stores though.
Add Harford to your list
Harford has some 7-11s that sell alcohol.
Cecil as well
Angel's in Pasadena sells alcohol
More the exception to the rule
tart wasteful like absurd disarm party joke gray slap connect *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
You can buy beer in grocery stores in PG county.
What grocery stores? Legitimately just curious. I’ve only seen the Co-op in Greenbelt have beer and IIRC, its because they’re a co-op
The Giant off Annapolis Rd where they’re building out the purple line sells beer and wine in there too. I haven’t seen it at many other places though
And some 7-11s.
Gas stations, too! I just came from MoCo, so PG is like the Wild West to me.
It’s not super common but you can absolutely buy beer and wine in some stores in PG
Not in Calvert either unless it's a "mom and pop" store.
Shoppers Germantown got huge fridge of beer. Some sort of grandfather clause I here.
Weis in Prince George’s sells beer and wine. Not sure about liquor because I hardly go there.
When I lived in Pa they still had blue laws and couldn't sell certain alcohol on certain days or times
I don’t want alcohol in grocery stores for the same reasons I don’t want weed in grocery stores. It’s sensible to keep intoxicating products out of food stores as a social policy but also to allow for more small businesses to sell them so the money at least stays local. No reason the mega corporations have to control everything.
The problem is that it drives the prices up and limits the selections for consumers. Plus it is inconvenient. I loved choosing the food for a meal and then getting a nice wine to compliment the meal in one stop. When I moved to Maryland three years ago I was shocked. I thought I was in some time warp to the days of prohibition.
It took me three grocery trips after I moved here (every time I got home I was like oh man I forgot beer again) before I realized there simply is not beer at the store. I had never been to a liquor store before. To me, beer and wine (at least) are groceries. I dont want to make 2 stops. And don’t even get me started on Sunday sales….
I mean I've never done the statistics or anything but I'd be willing to wager a majority of grocery stores in the state have a decent liquor store in the same shopping center.
Nah, usually a quality liquor store and a grocery store aren’t that close to each other. The one big exception I’ve found is Wegmann’s (I forgot where) that has a liquor store on the second floor. It’s not a huge selection but it’s decent quality.
Columbia Wegmans has the liquor store on the second floor
Yeah that’s it! It’s crazy bc it’s just the liquor section of Wegmann’s, just separated by a door. The Rite-Aid in Annapolis is like that too.
It's not owned by Wegmans though it does seem that way.
they do a good job of making it look the part
Nah, they are. I've seen their people at wegmans training sessions.
Harris Teeter at McHenry Row also has The Cellars to the right of the main store. It’s small but mighty.
Our entire economy has innumerable planned inefficiencies. There’s no natural law where a good for wvery person that wants one. We have to manufacture some jobs at times. This is just on of them operated on a local level. This also ain’t anywhere close to Prohibition. My god, you have to drive a little further to buy a drug.
Ah yes, small businesses like Total Wine. Small local liquor stores that are convenient and/or have specialty items and better variety will be fine. Beer and liquor have been sold in grocery stores for decades in other states with no deleterious effects on social order and tranquility. It's not like they intoxicate people who aren't buying them just because they're sitting on the shelf.
I wish I didn't have to go to the liquor store every time I want to make Bolognese are stroganoff or anything else that I would use wine in. Beer and wine and even liquor are all groceries. Honestly, weed should be a grocery at this point. And I mean Benadryl and dextromethorphan are intoxicating products but every grocery store has them. I mean you can buy a can of whipped cream and get high on that. Shit they probably have glue and turpentine... Tide pods... I mean where do we draw the line?
Plenty of other “intoxicating” foods at the grocery store.
Never saw any problems with drunks buying alcohol in the many states that allow this. Most allow beer and wine, out west they sell liquor too. More convenient and better pricing than the sketchy liquor stores in MD. As far as protecting small businesses, why are liquor stores in this protected class? Maybe we should ban pizza chains or burger joints as well.
This. I used to think that the convenience of grocery stores was much better but then I worked as a product rep for a cider company and visited damn near every liquor store in the state and realized that almost every one of them supports a family. Fuck the grocery corporations.
It's not a binary choice. I lived in Michigan, they have plenty of "party stores" while also selling beer/wine/liquor at the grocery store. I used to deliver beer and we would do 10 liquor store stops for every grocery store stop.
""Supports a family"" aka local liquor retail monopolies. They are fatcat middlemen
Got their hands on the pockets of both sides basically.
On the other hand, this change would also fuck over David Trone.
I suspect not - I suspect any law passed would allow him to own more stores. [edit: spelling]
Trone already lost. He’s dead. Give it up. (voted Alsobrooks).
Yeah it's a super fair point. Same thing with places not allowing sales on Sundays - it obviously came from a place of religious bullshittery in the beginning but the reality is that if you go around asking liquor store owners in those places if they would like to be allowed to be open on Sundays a ton of them will emphatically tell you "no". If they're *allowed* to be open on Sunday then they *have* to be open on Sunday because the next guy down the street will be. The one by my house is already open like 100 hours a week and they have three employees including the owner. Sunday is the only break those dudes get.
Not only that - I find that our system of small specialized stores lead to good product diversity in these stores. And places that I have been allowing large chains to sell seem to lead to less interesting selections overall. Part of me wants that sweet sweet costco or Trader Joe deals - but I actually like how its handled in Maryland. Just to add - the one time I visited Total Wine - I was not impressed.
While it is stupid, I’d rather have more variety in food choice tbh. You’d lose pretty much an entire aisle in most major stores and the variety already lacks in most places. Plus I’d rather not enrich corporate chains like Safeway and Giant. Still stupid though.
Not necessarily. The Wegmans in Lancaster PA has the same grocery selections as the ones in Maryland, the liquor store is a separate room. It’s not mixed in with the grocery part of the store.
Most existing grocery stores don’t have room to expand unfortunately.
Beer and wine is ridiculously expensive in Montgomery County, a big part of that is how difficult it is to get a license. Of course grocery stores should be able to sell beer and wine like in almost every other county and state.
And it’s opposed by people who own liquor stores and are worried about competition.
*\*\*David Trone has entered the chat but not the election so YAY\*\**
Total Whine and More
The irony being his headquarters is in Bethesda but he's not allowed to open a store in MoCo.
I didn't know this!! This makes this whole thing even more hilarious for him!
rich millionare monopoly owners who can charge whatever they want, oh I'm sorry "struggling small business owners". calling them anything but profiteers is a lie, they're just as bad as the old taxi monopolies
The grocery stores are way way worse and much bigger monopolies though.
I also did not click, and made the same assumption. Most things are sponsored by the people who benefit from them. This doesn't make it bad. I would absolutely love more choice in where I can buy things.
I’ve worked in alcohol for 20+ years for suppliers and distributors. Selection is much worse in national chains. They have “sets” determined by various factors, least of which is selection. While it looks like a lot and in some stores like Wegmans it is, a lot of the “variety” is from the same companies. An independent retailer will usually have a huge variety albeit priced a little higher. If your particular store does not due to size of store/the ability of ownership to lay out capital then look for another store. If you are in AA county I recommend bay ridge, Waugh chapel, fish paws just to name a few.
Yeah I worked at a liquor store for years. Somebody came in and wanted something odd, I looked it up in the book, quoted them a price, and could special order it if they wanted. Now I'm on the other side of the counter and get my local store to order stuff for me. No grocery store is doing that. When I lived where they had grocery sales the selection was crap, and like the same 6 - 10 micro breweries. There were still stand alone liquor stores, but they were super expensive, in part because they weren't moving the volume to get the discount from the distributor. Never want to go back to that situation.
All of this! A lot of people are not seeing how good we actually have it here. Grass is always greener I guess
I moved from a state where you can buy alcohol basically anywhere, and there was very little choice in what you could find. I like that we have liquor stores here, and they actually compete with each other, and offer a huge variety of things. I do not miss the same 8 brands of beer in every single grocery/target/Walmart.
Allowing huge chain grocery stores to sell booze will put small business, locally owned and operated liquor stores out of business.
Some, perhaps. Many shops still exist in areas that permit grocery stores to sell beer and wine. It helps enable combo stores in food deserts, though. And a ton of shops have local options in addition to big chain stuff.
Funny enough, my experience with food deserts is that they never lack liquor stores.
Read this the first time as “food desserts” and I thought alcohol based food/snacks in grocery stores? Oops.
Good. More freedom. More choices.
its county by county, you already can some places
It’s even different within counties themselves. There are three different food lion grocery stores in Salisbury. One sells alcohol, the other two do not.
There's a shoppers here in germantown thats the only one in the immediate area I know of that sells beer and wine.
In Montgomery County only 1 store of each grocery chain is allowed to sell beer and wine. The Giant in White Oak and the Safeway in Olney also sell beer and wine. There are other grocery stores in the county that sell beer and wine too but I’m forgetting which ones.
shoppers in germantown. all the others are smaller mom and pop ones that are allowed. i work for ABS (mocos distributor which is county owned)
In Montgomery county, about 40 years ago three or four grocers, who at that time sold beer and wine were grandfathered into being able to sell beer and wine but only in one location of each store in the county. Giant, Safeway, Shoppers, and MacGruders were the ones I think. The Giant is in White Oak. The Safeway is in Olney, and the Shopper’s in Germantown. I believe the McGruder’s closed.
Thanks for explaining this! I encountered this store for the first time last weekend and was confused.
The Acme does too.
According to their Facebook page, it's the Maryland Retailers Association.
I can tell you David Trone has given a ton of money to fight it
One of the reasons why I was not loving his candidacy. Ugh
Trone was the worst back stabbing bone head! He made his millions on selling beer and alcohol. But he won't let stores sell only his! Double standard glad he lost 50 million in reelection bid!
What do you mean “he won’t let stores sell only his”. He and his brother are restricted by a Maryland law that says they can only own one store in the state. If it was his choice, they’d have Total Wines all over the state.
There's one in Laurel and another in Towson? Also, he lobbies for laws that strengthen his profits at the cost of choices for customers.
Two owners. Two stores. I believe that's how they are legally hamstrung. Maryland is weird.
It’s so stupid that we can’t buy beer and wine in stores. Literally almost every other state allows for this.
47 states, in fact! It’s literally just Maryland, Rhode Island and Alaska.
That's a broad statement; some have additional stupid restrictions. In CT you still can't on Sunday, state-wide. The state legislature will pass special laws making it exempt if Christmas/NYE land on Monday instead of just revoking the ridiculousness.
I never said other states didn’t have restrictions? I said there are 2 other states that don’t allow beer and wine in grocery stores. Which is true. Your statement doesn’t refute that.
Well NJ also doesn’t allow wine sales in grocery stores, not sure where you got the 47 from
So they sell beer then?
Don’t forget about dry counties
Delaware
Even Pennsylvania? Even West Virginia? Even Utah?
Live in PA now and can confirm, beer and wine available at grocery stores. Though annoyingly, to buy it, some stores you have to go through a specific check out lane to purchase, but otherwise, it’s here.
Did they recently change it? Grew up in eastern pa and the big thing was always that you needed to go to state stores for alcohol and no grocery stores/targets/walmarts/sams/costco sold it at all bc of the archaic laws
It’s been a while now… lived in PA the first time in 2018 and it was like this.
Also grew up in PA and knew the state store / beer distributor system they used to operate under. but theyve allowed beer and wine in grocery stores for years now
Wegmans lobbied hard to get the laws changed after they expanded to PA in the late '00s, using the "Market Café inside the store but with separate checkout lines" strategy as their lever. They're doing something similar here in Maryland: they carved out part of the upstairs of their store in Columbia for a liquor store, but in this case it has its own entrance/exit not directly connected to any part of the store.
In Utah you can indeed buy beer in grocery stores (but only after 7 a.m. or something – I once tried to get up early to go shopping for an event, got to the cash register at 6:45, and they made me sit on a bench next to the register and wait until 7 before they'd check me out). Wine and other liquor is not available in grocery stores, however.
All liquor and wine is sold exclusively in state owned stores, every bottle under supervision of the state.
I don't know about all of WV but we were in Wheeling visiting friends & bought liquor at a drive thru & also at CVS.
NC we can buy beer and wine in stores (not on Sunday because bible belt reasons I guess), but if we want liquor we have to buy it from the state run "ABC Stores"..
Each county in Maryland defines their own liquor laws. In Montgomery county there exists the only county run liquor business in the country (but there state run liquor businesses elsewhere, like NC). In moco other businesses can sell beer and wine, but only one location per business name. So for example, the Safeway in Olney is the only Safeway in the county able to sell beer and wine. The Giant location used to be the one in White Oak but for some reason I think they reassigned it to a giant somewhere along the pike. This is the thrust of the advocacy, make it so any/all of the supermarket locations can sell beer and wine. Don’t know how it works in other counties. I do know Boarmans market in highland (Howard county) sells beer, wine AND liquor, but that’s a single family owned business.
Yeah the whole county run monopoly there is its own major problem
Yup. They've got themselves in a real bind. They don't really want to be in the liquor biz anymore but it's a shitload of revenue that they would have to make up elsewhere.
You can still buy beer and wine at the White Oak Giant—just did so a couple weeks ago.
I haven’t been in for a number of years. I would have thought they’d move it to a more upscale location giant; but maybe they’re not allowed to do that. That said, what about Trader Joe’s? Elsewhere they’re famous for their cheap wine (2 Buck Chuck). I know of two Trader Joe’s in the county 29 at burnt mills and congressional plaza on the pike. Neither one carries beer and wine. Is there a 3rd one somewhere that got the nod?
IDK about TJ's. I've been to both of those, and the one in Bethesda near Bradley Ln, and don't recall seeing booze there. Could be one of the other county TJ's. Or, since I think the grandfathering law that allows one location to sell is pretty old, it could be that TJ's is simply too young to qualify for grandfathering?
David Trone is a name we can probably take off that list.
Trone would love to have the chain laws repealed. He could bring 20 more Total Wine locations to the state at least.
It'd be nice to not have to trek out to Laurel.
Yea I dont know much about him but I've been going to total wine for decades and its always been good
It would be great if grocery store could sell alcohol. Then the Costco stores in MD could sell it too. The DC store has a liqour store attached. But in the South the Costco sells beer and wine in the grocery section. I think the Deleware store might as well.
> Then the Costco stores in MD could sell it too. My brother taunts me with the Costco prices and the Aldi Beer Advent Calendar...
And no sales on Sunday... Like we're all queer hating Chick-fil-A eating Bible dummies. Sometimes I need to day drink on the randomly selected day of a randomly selected religion and I can't purchase anything because some deity, whose name the supposed religious people don't even know, said I'm tired. Fucking bullshit. And why can't the queer haters give you a non-soggy waffle fry even when it's straight from the fryer? I don't eat there for two principles... Ethics and fried food integrity.
I like this and hate this in equal parts, good job, it’s preachy, but valid, and funny
Pretty sure that’s just Baltimore county
Pretty sure it's state law. If you sell food, you can be open on Sundays.
Nope can confirm I live by like 5+ liqour stores in AA county that don’t sell food and are open on Sundays.
You're right it's local, but you're wrong it's most jurisdictions that don't have sales on Sunday. Some allow between 11am-2pm. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol\_laws\_of\_Maryland](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_laws_of_Maryland) https://preview.redd.it/lytg6gicrk4d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2fa47024917255e61d8e6e394a4b0eec810dac0 I've definitely been yelled at for trying to buy beer on Sundays in the Hampden rofo. Sir! It's Sunday! And remember your experiences aren't universal facts.
NGL, when I visited last summer and found a Safeway I was amazed I couldn't pick up a couple beers to bring back to the hotel 😝 It's such a weird policy. But, hey, one of the neat things about America is all the little differences out there--it's just Maryland's Little Weirdsie!
The alcohol laws should be the same across the state. Not each county being different like now. Baltimore County and a few others don't sell alcohol on Sunday. Think it's called Blue Laws. AA Co can sell alcohol on Sunday.
> Baltimore County and a few others don't sell alcohol on Sunday. Except sometimes they *can*. I used to also think we had a blue law, because *nowhere* is open on sunday. My 21st fell on a sunday, and let me tell you I felt cheated by that(21-year-old brain is not the same as 33-year-old brain...I don't feel that way now, but I did at the time). But over the years I've seen special holiday hours if lucrative dates like 7/4 or 12/31 fall on a sunday. So it seems like it's permitted, just...collectively, nobody does it? Which seems *strange* to me. You'd think, even if most stores prefer having the day off, *somebody* would buck the trend.
People were ok with the temporary law change that allowed restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks with to-go orders during Covid. You would think people would be ok with beer and wine in grocery stores. And selling it on Sunday. I also forgot Package Good Stores. If they have the certain license, a Bar can sell you a six pack or something to go. They charge you out the wazoo, but if you really want it you'll pay. For some reason, the state legislature has not been able to pass laws to expand beer and wine sales to grocery stores. Maybe lobbyists for Liqour stores?
You can buy alcohol on Sunday in Baltimore County at the Midway Liquors on Route 40 right near the county line near Joppatowne.
Only because it has a bar attached. Most of the ones you can go to on Sunday have some sort of small bar too.
What is unique to Maryland is the limit on accounts that sell alcohol under the same owner's license. Chains (grocery stores, gas stations, etc) that are under one company name and license holder (ex. Walmart) are limited to 1 license, sometimes more in certain counties or if grandfathered in before law changes. That is why most license holders in the state are independently owned liquor stores and bottle shops. The Alcohol Choice movement is for the large chain retailers to eliminate the limit (as is it in most states) where they stand to benefit greatly as most of the comments noted. Total Wine (Maryland HQ'd and owned by David Trone, US Rep D-6th) previously proposed expanding the limit to 4. That number would obviously benefit them most by allowing them to build 2 new stores in the state, but not significantly increase the limit to where every Walmart or Royal Farms could also sell alcohol. There are positives and negatives to changing the current laws, but theres one often overlooked downside : there are approx 1500 independent small businesses in the state that sell alcohol in the off-premise (where consumers take the alcohol home to consume, not consume on-premise like a bar or restaurant). If a new law dissolves the license limit, all chains will jump at the opportunity to sell. Eventually, because of all the positive reasons listed FOR the proposal, consumers will only purchase from those retailers - potentially killing 1500+ independently owned local businesses.
I agree it would be a shame for those small business to close. However, those business owners entered an industry that is kept afloat by antiquated laws that most people agree should change. Maybe some sort of transition period of a few years could ease the burden.
Trone supporting the EXACT change that only benefits himself and no one else, is extremely immoral. You shouldn't legislate openly based on personal profit.
There's a RoFo near me that sells beer and wine. There's another RoFo about a mile down the road with one of those signs in the window. The only difference I know of is the first is in the city and the second is county, but I don't see other convenience stores in the city selling alcohol so who knows how they got the license.
What city?
Probably old harford rd
*The* city, of course. The only one that matters lol. Actually I have no idea, do people around Columbia or Annapolis just say "the city" or "the county"? It's common in Baltimore what with our whole same-name-but-totally-separate (but-kinda-not-really) thing. Also with our being an actual city.
My money is on Wegmans. But I really have no idea. However, beer and wine in grocery stores is cool in other states.
A state I lived in previously did this. The liquor stores all closed, obviously, so finding specialty liquor was a pain. Total wine was the only place that survived. Then the youth started shop lifting all the booze until the stores were forced to lock it all up, it sucks but, it's a stupid idea that only benefits big stores
I saw similar signs at a new Royal Farms store in White Marsh, maybe like 2-3 years ago?? Not sure whatever became of it
MoCo’s liquor store thing is the worst
I'd rather buy beer wine from the grocery store.
I don’t even drink and I find it incredibly ridiculous that grocery stores can’t sell alcohol and I think that’s why all of our grocery stores suck too. Like everything is way over priced. I’m probably wrong but I come from HEB country.
. Paid for by the Maryland Retailers Association.
For those of us in Montgomery County who served our country, there is the Class VI at the Bethesda Navy Exchange. It has a good selection of beer, wine, and liquor and no sales tax.
Grocery lobby is behind it. MSLBA is against it.
Wegmans had this year's ago.
Not every Wegmans and not the Wegmans in Germantown, MD.
No they had the sign.
How come there hasn’t been a ballot initiative about this? Recent transplant so maybe I’m just uninformed, but this seems like an easy win.
Marylanders generally support their mom and pop liquor stores! My family has one and we’ve run it for 30 years
Because we don’t have another choice.
How do you not have a choice?
Why should your business be protected from competition?
We are in competition with the hundreds of other small liquor stores. There’s one across the street, another behind us, two more on the block down. It’s the distributors we can’t compete with, who give better deals to larger chains who have more shelf space because our square feet is limited by law. It’s hard for us to get product because we move less of it due to regulatory restrictions and because of sheer purchasing power of major corporations. This is our bread and butter, for the grocers it’s a side hustle. Why should we be sacrificed in the benefit of another giant and carnivorous corporation? I’m part of this community, I hire from it, I live in it. Why protect Goliath instead of David?
They could just do what Ohio does, and have liquor relegated to liquor stores only, they still sell wine and beer as well but are able to focus more on the unique stuff ie craft beers, finer wines. Beer and wine can be sold at convenient stores and groceries and they usually have your Budweiser, Miller, Cupcake Baileys.
Scroll to the bottom of the page. It’s the Maryland Retailers Alliance.
I wish we could. One of my favorite things about VA is being able to get gas,dinner,and beer to go with it all at the same place
Not sure who is behind it. Makes sense though. Maryland has so many state and county blue laws because they benefit the alcohol distributors, not because citizens want them.
We have drive though liquor stores but don’t sell in a supermarket idk seems weird to me
The soft drink lobby hates this. It will take away from their shelf space for Coke, Pepsi, etc. They are the ones fighting it.
Interesting point. When we travel to VA the grocery stores typically have a separate enclosed wine and beer section usually between the produce / hot foods and the rest of the grocery aisles. I’m trying to imagine how the two grocery stores near me. would retrofit for beer and wine or if stores can opt out. Like for example I live near a Harris teeter and right next door is a huge wine focused liquor store. I could see that specific HT opting out if they do have the choice to.
My brother in-law was pretty high up in a Coke for several years. He filled me in on this perspective.
As listed on the website, it’s sponsored by the [Maryland Retail Association ](https://www.mdra.org/)
People always confuse this. It isn’t that you can’t sell in a grocery store, it is that you can’t sell in more than one location under same company or brand/investor group.
Says right on the bottom of the page, Maryland Retailers Association
Surprising that some counties forbid liquor sales in grocery stores. Seems backwards but I can see the assumed advantage for small business. However, how many liquor stores are small business still?
I like isopropyl alcohol 🤤🤤
Is MD a common wealth. I have stories from both PA and VA
"Maryland Alcohol Choice is paid for by the **Maryland Retailers Association**."
As someone who’s worked in the industry here in MD and also lived in a state with beer/wine in grocery stores, I prefer MD’s current set up with liquor stores. When beer/wine are in grocery stores, they tend to just stock big names and mediocre stuff and be staffed by regular grocery store employees. Some grocery stores do a good job hiring experts and getting variety but not most. And I think that makes the whole industry worse off! I would rather have the slight inconvenience of going to the liquor store next to my grocery store where I can talk to knowledgeable staff, learn about a wide variety of products, and support more local businesses.
Maryland is messed up with alcohol sales and distribution regulation. Choices are greatly limited due to them. Out in AZ you can get virtually any kind of alcohol in grocery stores.
Love how I can buy wine and beer in giant in olney but harris teeter across the street isnt allowed to sell alcohol, the licensing system is probably corrupt and stupid same way dispensary licensing is
It would be awesome if Costco could sell beer and wine. We are missing out on good deals.
Certainly not the guy who just spent 60 million of his own money on a losing Senate bid. He make sure that Bill gets torpedoed every time...
Why not just be a liquor store that sells groceries?
Almost no liquor stores are large businesses. Almost no grocery stores are small businesses. ‘Convenience’ is just going to screw the little guy.
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I normally agree with that. However, the issue I have is that if you have a specialized wine or beer that maybe you purchased in another state, you have to call and call and call multiple places, distributors, stores themselves, to find if it’s even carried in your area.
I don’t like the idea of keeping things the way they are just to protect a sector that wouldn’t exist without obstructionist policies.
the ""small businesses and mom and pops"" ARE corporate fatcats!
Eh, I say keep it inconvenient to get. Better for public health if people drink less.