Washington Liquor Prices to go up after Int-1183

[bahrbearian]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017408836_distributors03.html

Costco writes the law.

[gateley]

1. Well what a surprise. What did people expect when monster retailers were the ones

pushing this!?

[Andy823]

2. It's amazing how it ever passed

Costco, and others who wanted to get in on the liquor business, did a good job of lying to the voters, telling them price would go "DOWN". I guess people wanted cheaper booze, bought into the BS from Costco, and now will end up paying more. This was a terrible idea in the first place, got voted down last time, but with huge money going into false ads, they won. I am glad I stopped drinking 26 years ago!

[Scootaloo]

4. I'm always amazed by the privatization arguments

Somehow they manage to convince people that adding profit motive to the equation will REDUCE prices.

I guess P.T. Barnum was right.

[pscot]

3. Nobody could have predicted this

Especially after the ad campaign that promised competition would lower prices.

[bahrbearian]

5. The State controled liquor stores where Union, can't have that

Vacations, overtime, health benefits, Is that what Costco was fighting?

[ManiacJoe]

6. We could always trim the government fees.

27% according to the article.

[bahrbearian]

7. The state put up the warehousing for bid to non union private corps.

They couldn't beat the states cost.

[Ron Obvious]

8. Diversity of selection might even go down...

I do a lot of travelling all over the country, and I think we have the highest liquor prices in the lower 48 already. That said, I find the selection at our liquor stores pretty decent, and the employees uniformly friendlier than elsewhere.

I'm currently sipping a Slivovitz (Yugoslavian plum brandy -- it tastes like turpentine if you're not used to it), which I can't find hardly anywhere else. At Costco in other states, the selection is actually very, very poor, carrying only the major brands.