Washington State's Liquor Fight Continues

Costco and food associations continue the fight to sell alcohol in Washington State.

July 20, 2011

OLYMPIA - When it comes to the right to sell alcohol in Washington State, Costco is not giving up, The Columbian reports.

Costco, along with the Northwest Grocery Association, the Washington Restaurant and the Washington Retail Association are firmly backing Initiative 1180, which proposes to remove Washington from alcohol distribution while enabling stores with at least 10,000 square feet of retail space to sell and distribute liquor.

The group maintains a new provision of this initiative €" whereby a portion of liquor sales revenue would revert to state and local governments €" would generate $200 million more than the current system in its first two years. Together, the group has raised nearly $1.8 million in support of the measure.

Opponents remain skeptical of Costco€™s claims and are awaiting an assessment from the Office of Financial Management.

The initiative also includes a clause that addresses rural areas where no store exceeds 10,000-square feet of retail space. In such a case, smaller liquor stores or grocery stores would be allowed, subject to approval by the Liquor Control Board, to sell alcohol.

Small retailers like Jim Van Natta, owner of Hockinson Market, oppose the measure, maintaining it would threaten his business.

"Yeah, I would be out of business," Van Natta said, adding he would not be able to compete with supermarkets and larger stores if the initiative passes. "It€™s a bad idea. The whole thing€™s a bad idea."

Sponsors of the initiative submitted 354,000 signatures to the secretary of state before the July 8 deadline, qualifying for inclusion on the November ballot (subject to an official counting that began earlier this week).

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement