Beer and Wine in Supermarkets? A Good Idea But It Could Be Better

Star-Ledger
By Paul Mulshine
April 20, 2010

I just received a press release from state Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, a Democrat from Cherry Hill, calling for state law to be changed so supermarkets can sell beer and wine.

This is a good idea. Consumers would benefit from buying wine and beer in supermarkets. But Greenwald goes on to state that his approach would not permit towns to increase the number of licenses.

Why not?

In other states, a liquor license is just that, a license. In New Jersey, it's a franchise. The state has created an artificial monopoly to benefit sellers at the expense of consumers.

This was done via the grandfathering of licenses that went through back in the 1940s during the administration of the odious Governor Wally Edge. As a result some towns have more than 40 licenses per square mile while others have just one or two.

This makes no sense. If the town officials want to sell new licenses, why should the state stop them? The money could bused to cut property taxes and consumers would have more options.