Editor’s note: Thanks to a change in state law in 2008, Coloradans can drop by their favorite liquor store on Sundays to grab a six-pack before a Broncos game. But you still can’t walk into a grocery store or convenience store and buy wine or spirits, much less full-strength suds. Those stores are only allowed to stock 3.2 beer, which has a lower alcohol content. Each year it seems a few bills bubble up at the statehouse that aim to tinker with Colorado’s crazy patchwork of liquor laws. This year, the battle is over whether to allow convenience and grocery stores to sell full-strength beer. We asked a few experts if these new bills would be good for consumers, or if there’s some other way to make Colorado liquor laws more fair, to even the playing field? Here’s what they had to say.
Colorado liquor laws already are very fair and have fostered strong competition. With 146 Colorado craft brewers and nine more on the way, Colorado leads the nation in the spirit of entrepreneurship.
Let’s not un-tap this creative energy that is good for business and good for Colorado beer lovers. Why? It goes back to the regulatory structure of the Colorado beer market. It creates a highly competitive, albeit regulated market, not an oligopoly like in many chain- driven states. This provides Colorado brewers with great access to market and Colorado beer lovers with great selection and low prices relative to other states.
When an oligopoly forms, the market contracts and prices rise and Colorado beer lovers lose. The craft beer they love may not be stocked on the shelf of an out-of-state-owned grocer. Why? Because the grocery focuses floor space on brands that it knows will sell with a high velocity. National chains tend to focus on national brands, and from our collective experience, they are less interested in local flavor.
Are customers better served if they cannot find what they want and if what is available is more expensive?
Our competitive beer market forces Colorado retailers to offer a wide selection at a fair price. Why? Because each has only one license. No single player can dominate the market. It is fair — an even playing field. Good for brewers, better for beer lovers, great for job creation, and beneficial for the Colorado economy.
Colorado leads the nation in brewing. Let’s keep Coloradans employed and grow jobs. Let’s celebrate the world-renowned reputation Colorado brewers have earned. Let’s keep the Colorado system of alcohol regulation intact and functioning.
To do otherwise would be foolish, bad for business, and bad for Colorado.
Eric Wallace, founder and owner of Left Hand Brewing, is the Colorado Brewers Guild president.
