A new bill proposed by State Sen. George Borrello is aiming to find a middle ground in the long-debated issue of selling wine in New York grocery stores.
The bill would allow grocery stores to sell wines, but only those that use products from, or were produced in New York State.
The proposal seeks to satisfy consumer demand while supporting New York businesses. Liquor stores would still be able to sell wines from outside New York, and a second bill set to be proposed by Sen. Borello would allow them to sell foods such as cheese, wine, crackers, and olives – something they’re currently not allowed to do.
However, local liquor stores, like East Avenue Liquor, remain concerned, as about 60% of their sales come from wines.
“I don’t think it should be a matter of our survival,” said Nelson Habecker, owner of East Avenue Liquor. “New York State has kind of had a contract with us that we can’t sell anything but the products that we have here, they have to have alcohol in them.”
Habecker said, “We can’t sell beer. It’s a separate license. You can’t have the two of them in the same spot. So our contract with New York State is we will sell only those items that you allow us to sell, and we’ll be happy with that wherever we are.”
“And now the changes that they want to make is let’s take something away from you and still have you under that contract,” Habecker said. “They’d have to change the, the liquor laws for the liquor industry.”
Wegmans expressed support for the bill, saying in a statement to News10NBC, “Wegmans has always been a supporter of local and regional products that are produced where we have stores. We support the legislation that would provide convenience to New York consumers by giving them access to wine in grocery stores.”
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