DENVER – Colorado grocers on Wednesday launched a ballot effort to allow all supermarkets to sell full-strength beer and wine.
The long-anticipated initiative is being touted as a matter of choice and convenience for consumers, who currently must purchase beer and wine at liquor stores.
Only a handful of grocery stores in Colorado sell full-strength beer and wine, as state law allows for only one license per business. That means major chains, such as City Market and Albertsons, can choose only one store in which to sell the products unless they’re selling low-alcohol beer.
“It became a stupid law, it’s a silly law now,” said John Brackney, chief executive of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, who spoke at a news conference announcing the effort. “We know the law is going to change. ... It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Proponents will need ballot-language approval from the state to begin collecting the 98,492 signatures to qualify for the 2016 ballot. Previous attempts before the Colorado Legislature failed, forcing supporters to head the ballot route.
Speaking at a King Soopers that sells beer and wine in an enclave of Denver, proponents said the initiative would benefit craft brewers, who would have additional shelf space in grocery stores throughout the state.
But noticeably absent from speaking at the news conference was any representative of the thriving craft-beer industry. The industry has largely united against the initiative, launching an opposition campaign months ago.
The concern is about potential bureaucracy within management at large chains. Brewers currently enjoy walking into a small liquor store and quickly striking a deal to place products on shelves. They worry that it would be much more difficult to deal with grocery store managers.
“I don’t see brewers supporting this,” said Steve Kurowski, marketing director for the Colorado Brewers Guild. “These brewers that have been in this game for a long time, they know where they came from, they know the laws that made them as large and as profitable as they are. There’s no reason to change the landscape.”
Durango-based Steamworks Brewing Co. has joined the coalition of brewers opposing the initiative. In August, Steamworks became the second brewery in the state to produce a special beer, Keep Colorado LocALE, opposing the effort.
“If local liquor stores go out of business, Colorado’s 300-plus craft breweries lose a critical link in their distribution networks,” said Ken Martin, head brewer at Steamworks. “We’re brewing the LocALE to remind people that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’”
Mike Rich, owner of Wagon Wheel Liquors in Durango, said he is more willing than supermarket managers to place local products.
“Within days we are able to get it on our shelves and into customers’ hands,” Rich said. “That’s the kind of quick turnaround you get with a local store, but the bureaucracy of big corporate chain stores can tie up a small brewery for months or even years.”
But Darren Minich, adult beverage category manager at King Soopers, said his goal is to stock store shelves with local products.
“We have tons of breweries opening up,” Minich said, pointing to Durango-based Ska Brewing Co. as an example of local beers stocked at grocery stores. “At least two to three times a week I’m in a new brewery just seeing where they’re at.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com