Businesses Push to Expand Alcohol Sales

It’s been 76 years since the 21st amendment repealed prohibition in the United States yet consumers and businesses are still fighting for the right to buy and sell alcohol.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to sell beer and wine in its Fayetteville stores, but first it has to get permission from the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control board.

The retailer was recently denied permission to sell beer and small-farm wines in three stores due to an objection from Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor and State Sen. Sue Madison, who both cited concerns over underage drinking.

Wal-Mart will seek an appeal from the board at its next meeting on Nov. 18.

Laurie Smalling, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said the retailer is reacting to requests from consumers who said they would like to have the added convenience of buying beer and wine when they buy their groceries.

Wal-Mart waited to move forward until the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in April that a Fayetteville Sam’s Club could continue operating a liquor store adjacent to its retail operation.

That ruling opened the door for Wal-Mart and other retailers to begin applying for beer and wine permits.

Since August, seven convenience stores in Washington County have applied for permits as well as Target stores in Fayetteville and Fort Smith.

Wal-Mart has a proven track record of responsibly managing its alcohol sales in 35 stores in Arkansas, Smalling said.

Before an associate can sell beer or wine, they must score 100 percent in a computer-based learning course. There is also a training session on how to spot fake forms of identification.

If an associate sells alcohol to a minor, they are immediately terminated.

“We’re very proud of what we have in place,” Smalling said.

But even with strict guidelines, officials are concerned about increasing the availability of alcohol.

“I have no problem with adults consuming wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages,” Madison said. “However, underage drinking is a serious problem for our area with so many college students.

“The more outlets that sell alcohol, the harder it is for law enforcement to prevent underage sales.”

 

Staying Dry

The recent push to expand alcohol sales has raised questions about how much longer Benton County can afford to remain dry.  

The county is one of 42 counties in Arkansas where the sale of alcohol is prohibited and it doesn’t appear that residents are all that interested in changing its status.

There have been two unsuccessful efforts in recent years to allow voters in Benton County to decide if the county should become wet.

David Routon, a Bentonville business owner, led a petition drive in 2008 that failed to garner enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot.

Routon said the main argument he encountered was that making the county wet would lead to more alcohol-related problems in the county, such as drunk driving and spousal abuse.

But with several Benton County restaurants and bars serving alcohol through private club permits, the argument doesn’t make sense, he said.

Restaurants that serve alcohol have opened at a tremendous pace over the past seven years, Routon said, yet there hasn’t been an increase in alcohol-related incidents.

A 1969 Arkansas statute allowed private clubs to serve alcohol, mostly applying to country clubs, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and Elks Clubs. The law was amended in 2003 to allow restaurants to qualify for the special permits. Since then, 120 restaurants in Benton County have been granted private club permits, giving the county the distinction of having the most permits in the state.

Routon said he fails to see how liquor stores, at which customers typically buy alcohol and take it home to consume, could cause an increase in drunk driving but the same logic doesn’t apply to restaurants, where alcohol is consumed on site.

While petitioning in 2008, Routon said he didn’t find many people who were against becoming a wet county, but few people were willing to make any effort to change the county’s status. 

Since things were going good at the time and there was increase in tax revenue, area politicians didn’t want to rock the boat, he said.

But Routon said growth has since stalled and being a dry county will limit future growth.

“Being a dry county is a hindrance,” he said. “It hurts the economy and makes us look anything but progressive.”

His main gripe is that there isn’t a good argument in support of staying dry.

“I’m waiting for anyone to give me one compelling reason that Benton County does better as a dry county than it would as a wet county,” Routon said.

Meanwhile, the county misses out on revenue generated from the 3 percent excise tax on liquor.

According to state tax records, Washington County collected $925,651 in liquor excise taxes in 2008, compared to $1,610 collected in Benton County.

Joe Lisuzzo, owner of Copeland’s of New Orleans in Rogers, said the missed tax dollars are his main concern about being in a dry county.

 “On any given day, 98 percent of the license plates in the parking lots of the liquor stores in Missouri are from Arkansas,” he said.

“Preventing them from purchasing it in Benton County has not prevented them from drinking at restaurants, private clubs and in their own homes.  It has simply allowed us to not get our fair share of taxes to support our community.”

As a restaurant owner, Lisuzzo said applying for a private club permit is not that big of an issue.

“In Benton County, we do all the same things that a business would do to apply for a liquor license if the county was wet,” he said. 

“The only additional item that usually causes the issue is with the customers when they have to fill out an alcohol card when they first come in to our location.

“Being a transient community with a lot of suppliers for Wal-Mart, Tyson and J.B. Hunt, many of our customers don’t understand why this is necessary,” Lisuzzo said.

But operating in a dry county also means restaurants have to buy their alcohol at a retail outlet.

Most businesses in Benton County purchase their alcohol from a retail outlet in Washington County, Lisuzzo said.

“We pay retail prices, minus a slight discount,” he said. 

“This causes the retail prices we charge to the customer at our businesses to be much higher than they would be if the same alcohol was purchased direct from a distributor.”

The restaurants also have to pick up their alcohol, rather than having it delivered by a distributor.

That means incurring the cost of a vehicle to transport alcohol, the cost of an employee to pick up, load and deliver the alcohol, and the cost of additional insurance coverage. 

Benton County officials have stayed out of the wet-dry debate for the most part.

“All of Benton County was voted dry many years ago and will remain as such under current law until the county’s 100,000 plus voters determine otherwise,” Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin  said.

“While Benton County has experienced phenomenal growth over the past decade, and now exceeds Washington County in total population, some want to base future economic growth on Benton County going wet.

“This is an issue for the voters and is not an issue appropriate for mayoral influence,” McCaslin said.

But getting the issue on the ballot will have to be someone else’s undertaking, Routon said.

“It’s going to take someone who is really invested in making the change,” he said.

 

Springdale Resistance

The city of Springdale has proven that even in a county where alcohol sales are legal, opening a liquor store can be challenging.

In 2005, Sam’s Club wanted to open a new location in Springdale that would include a liquor store with a separate entrance.

There was so much opposition to the plan that Wal-Mart officials eventually moved the store to Fayetteville.

The same opponents are now trying to make it difficult for a Macadoodles franchise from Missouri to open in Springdale.

Macadoodles was granted permission from the ABC board in July to transfer a liquor license from a Fayetteville store despite opposition from elected officials.

The Arkansas Beverage Retailers Association filed a lawsuit against Macadoodles in August, asking the court to reverse the decision of the ABC board.

The suit won’t prevent the business from opening and selling alcohol, however. The business will only have to stop selling alcohol if it loses the case.

Madison objected to the permit on the grounds that the Missouri store has been luring Arkansans across the state border for years.

“My objection to Macadoodles is based on their open and intentional enticement of Arkansans to purchase alcoholic beverages in Missouri that would be carried back to Arkansas without Arkansas taxes being paid,” she said. “I could not bring myself to the point of welcoming a company that had cost Arkansas a lot of money.”

 

Blue Sundays

Blue Laws restricting certain behavior on Sundays were introduced with the first Puritan colonists in the 17th century and several states still hold on to the provision that bans the sale of alcohol.

But as governments look for ways to generate new revenue in a recession, many states are loosening their Sunday restrictions.

Colorado implemented Sunday liquor sales in 2008 and saw its alcohol tax revenues grow by 6 percent over the past year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council.

The Council claims that Sundays are the second busiest shopping day of the week, with 16 percent of 35 to 54 year olds buying their groceries on Sundays.

A new law passed in the 2009 legislative session gives individual communities in Arkansas the option to permit or restrict Sunday sales.

However, most communities still prohibit the sale of alcohol on Sundays. 

 

 

 

SIDEBAR

 

Beer Run

 

Convenience stores with retail beer permits:

 Elkins Superstop, N. Center St., Elkins
J&P Flash, N. Center St., Elkins
E-Z Mart, S. School Ave., Fayetteville

Braich Arrow Express, W. Henri De Tonti Blvd., Tontitown
Tontitown Z Mart, W. Henri De Tonti Blvd., Tontitown

 

Convenience stores that have recently applied for a retail beer permit:

Betty Jo Korner, Weddington Dr., Fayetteville

Valero Superstop, North College Ave., Fayetteville

Pilot Travel Center, West Sunset Ave., Springdale

Conoco Express, North Thompson Ave., Springdale

Crossover Corner, North Crossover Rd., Fayetteville

E-Z Mart, West Sunset Ave., Springdale

E-Z Mart, Robinson Ave., Springdale

E-Z Mart, W. Weddington Ave., Fayetteville

 

Source: Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division