I am not in retail or wholesale business of alcohol, but the Dec. 22 Columbian story “Privatized liquor loss” implies that Vancouver businessman Don Sidhu had a fair amount of exposure to it. Costco and other big retailers spent millions of dollars to get Initiative 1183 passed, so Sidhu must not have been paying much attention to think that he could compete with those “big” retailers trying to get a return on their investment.
How and why does the fact that most of the “bidders” for the state-run stores were immigrants have anything to do with this story? If they don’t understand English, hire a business attorney to look at the numbers. Sidhu has lived in the U.S. for 20 years; certainly long enough to assimilate business, culture and language.
It should have been obvious to even the casual observer that the monopoly of the state-run system was about to change in a big way. Quit blaming the state of Washington for any failed business venture. I noticed that two of his stores purchased were in Vancouver, where there are two Costco locations, and in Kirkland, near the home of Costco.
Washington state set no trap. Understanding capitalism, buying power, and competition are important theories to have a grasp of when starting any business.
