Don’t expect to find wine at grocery stores anytime soon. A bill aimed at letting the stores sell wine died in committee Tuesday. Supermarkets are disappointed, but package stores say it’s a win for small business.
“I’ve grown up in Connecticut my whole life and never had the opportunity to buy in a grocery store,” Nicole Bach, of Windsor Locks, said.
In the land of steady habits, there’s no getting wine at grocery stores. It’s the law and will remain so after a proposed bill to allow wine sales in grocery stores died in committee.
Rep. Mike D’Agostino, chair of the General Law Committee, confirmed the news. Advocates for the change were disappointed.
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“It’s disheartening. We did a lot of good work around the issue," said Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association.
Pesce says this is all about providing shoppers choice and convenience. He pointed to data from a UConn study that showed more than 80% of people surveyed would approve of the change, but many would still buy most alcohol from package stores.
“Our goal is not about putting people out of business. We don’t think that there’s that much disruption in the market,” Pesce said.
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Many package store owners, however, were happy the bill died. They say changing the law would be bad for small businesses cutting their potential revenue.
They’ve argued that package stores can’t compete with supermarkets due to the variety of items they offer.
Shoppers had mixed opinions about the law not changing.
“It doesn’t really affect me as long as I get my wine,” Katrina Dahlgren, who lives in New Britain, said.
“It’d be nice to go to a grocery store to buy, just to be able to pick up a bottle and go home,” Bach said.
Pesce said they’ll continue to lobby for the change in the next session. The proposal could resurface in an amendment this session, but D’Agostino said that’s unlikely to happen.
