Letter: Foreboding future for liquor sales
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Following the April 29 story “Privatized liquor sales -- what will happen?” has been interesting. Some of us hoped our governor and state politicians would use common sense, making sure that this move could lead to more jobs and a lot of benefits. That was a concern of a lot of senators and representatives while campaigning, but they seemed to forget that once corporate greed and lobbyists were involved. Now many who worked for the state in those liquor stores are out of work. Corporate giants moved in to take over the business with no discussion of how many jobs they will provide.
There is discussion that the price will not be lower, but actually higher with new fees, advertising, etc. The giant liquor chains likely will have the bulk-buying advantage that leads to price breaks for Costco, WinCo, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, New Seasons, etc. They’ll get the cost breaks, cutting out the little guy. This move is nothing new to many of us who have owned and operated mom-and-pop stores.
Of course, there were promises of lower prices and employment for thousands. If anyone had researched the number of employees, their salaries and benefits, and compared that to those corporate giants that moved in, they would’ve found some interesting facts.
Dale Shotwell
Vancouver
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