The Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributors want the state Supreme Court to review a recent lower-court ruling that allows beer to be sold in supermarkets, claiming that if the ruling stands it could lead to "beer sales almost anywhere.""The sale of multiple six packs in grocery stores has never been the Pennsylvania model," Dave Shipula, president of the distributors group, said yesterday.
Last month, Commonwealth Court approved beer sales in restaurants run by the Wegman supermarket chain. The decision upheld license approvals by the state for Wegman stores in Williamsport and Bethlehem and perhaps other towns. The distributors group had sued to stop those licenses.
The distributors said the lower court decision could cause "the most substantial change in the manner and venue of beer sales in Pennsylvania since passage of the Liquor Code 70 plus years ago."
Coming from another state to live in PA, I find it absolutely annoying to have to go to a distributor to get beer. Where I came from there was no such law. But, a change in PA would most likely put a huge strain on these businesses that sell beer now, even to the point of failure. It just doesn't make sense for someone to go out of their way to get their beer when they can pick it up while getting their grocery shopping done. Although it would be much more convenient, I cannot support a decision that could directly put small businesses out of business. The system is annoying but works fine, leave it alone.
Right, I think the real issue here is that a lot of small business owners would go under if big box stores were able to sell beer in their aisles. That said, I've lived in a few different states and buying beer in PA is the most annoying thing ever.