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Package stores push back on grocery stores being allowed to sell wine

“We've had some discussions with both sides,” said Sen. James Maroney, co-chair of the General Law Committee, which will see this bill when it’s eventually drafted.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Though the Capitol complex is closed until Monday, the 2023 legislative session did gavel in on Wednesday. There’s already a renewed push in a decades-old debate in Connecticut: whether to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores. 

If you ask the supermarkets, they say it's about convenience for customers and expanding variety, but package stores argue allowing wine in grocery stores would put them out of business.

“We know that consumers want this,” said Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association.

“If this happens, it's going to be really bad for Connecticut,” Maulik Vyas, founder of the Indian American Package Store Association of Connecticut said.

Right now, wine bottles can't be bought at the grocery store. Connecticut is one of just eight states like this, but for decades it’s been trying to join the ranks of the other 42. 

“Take the passion out of this and let’s do what’s right for people who are shopping here in the state,” said Pesce. “It's a modernization of the law.” 

In anticipation of this legislative fight, Pesce said the Connecticut Food Association commissioned multiple studies and aggregated data. Its poll shows over 80% of the state’s customers want wine in the supermarket. 

“We don’t believe that if you come into a grocery store that you’re going to stop going to your local package store,” Pesce explained.

Package store owners, like Vyas, strongly disagree. 

“It's not creating any jobs,” he said. “People are losing jobs, lots of people are going to be frustrated.” 

Vyas said at his store, wine sales are about 35% of his total profit and if supermarkets are allowed to get in the vino game, it could impact package stores in a big way. 

“I don't want my wine next to my soup, that I grab the soup and I grab the wine without any knowledge,” he continued. “We need best service and that is how package stores can deliver that to the customers.” 

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Vyas said it's not just sales or selection–he’s also worried about real estate from the loss of stores and easier underage access to alcohol. 

“We need to think very wisely and smartly,” he said. “This is a really, very serious issue. People are not understanding the ground reality.” 

“We've had some discussions with both sides,” said Sen. James Maroney, co-chair of the General Law Committee, which will see this bill when it’s eventually drafted.

Maroney anticipates the introduction of a possible law in February. 

“I do expect it to generate a lot of feedback to the hearing and that's why we like to hear the bills so that you can hear all sides and try to fine-tune the language and see if the concept has support,” he said.

Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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