Carroll small business owners say beer, wine sales in grocery stores would cause job, revenue losses

Brennan Stewart | The Baltimore Sun | Dec. 18, 2024 | Original Source

Carroll County business owners and officials are criticizing Gov. Wes Moore's support for permitting the sale of alcohol in grocery stores, announced last week.

David Brauning, chairman of the Carroll County Board of License Commissioners, which regulates and controls all matters pertaining to alcoholic beverages in the county, said many small businesses and “ma and pa shops” in Carroll would be negatively affected should the legislation be approved.

“The proposed sale of beer and wine in grocery stores would create a hardship on these businesses due to lack of buying power and cause many of them to close,” Brauning said in a Dec. 12 statement. “In addition, the Board of License Commissioners of Carroll County have serious concerns as to the prevention and control of alcoholic sales to minors in a large open counter area.”

One small business owner who anticipates a negative impact is Darren Barnes, owner of College Square Liquors in Westminster. Barnes has operated on WMC Drive since 2002 and recently signed a lease to remain through 2035.

“[The lease is] over $10,000 a month, so we’re talking about $1 million that I’m on the line for and that my family has signed for. I planned that to be able to run my business, and the thing about business is that you need certainty,” Barnes said. “You need to know what’s going to happen, and they keep trying to pull the rug out from under us. That’s kind of how I feel.”

Barnes said he was surprised and disappointed by the governor siding with big corporations who are out of state instead of smaller in-state businesses. He worries that the legislation will cause him to lose customers, and as a result employ fewer people than the 15 currently on his payroll.

Many small stores across the state are in his same situation, Barnes said.

“We’re talking tens of thousands of jobs in the state that would be gone,” he said, also noting a drop in tax income from small businesses and payroll taxes from employees. He said other types of businesses, such as microbreweries and local wineries, would also experience losses in distribution sales, as most of their products are sold in small businesses, not grocery stores.

“Even the landlords [will suffer],” Barnes said. “I was talking to my landlord and he’s not happy about it because he knows I might have to come to him for a rent reduction. I can’t pay tens of thousands of dollars in rent if I lose a third of my business.”

In his announcement last week on his support for alcohol sales in grocery stores, Moore said Maryland is one of just three states that bans the sale of beer in grocery stores and one of just 10 that ban the sale of wine.

“We are the only of our neighboring states to ban the sale of either in grocery stores — resulting in less consumer choice and putting our stores at a disadvantage,” Moore said. “Lifting this ban puts the consumers first, and ensures fair competition in the marketplace.

Moore told reporters on Dec. 11 that while the bill is not an official component of his 2025 legislative package, he will push for legislators to propose a bill in the next session to bring beer and wine to grocery stores.

“I look forward to working with our legislative partners to advance this overdue change in policy, to advance consumer choice and economic competitiveness that enjoys the support of the vast majority of Marylanders across political parties and regions across the state,” Moore said.

Jack Milani, legislative chair and spokesperson for the Maryland State Licensed Beverage Association, said he was “disheartened” by the governor’s stance.

“There was no dialogue with us or anyone in our industry before the comments were made, not sure why,” Milani said.

Outside of the Giant Food in Westminster, customers had mixed opinions about the proposal, while shopping midday on Friday. One customer noted her frequent trips to Florida and the ease of buying alcohol at Publix stores, where a separate building or entrance is the only requirement the chain grocery store has to meet in order to sell alcohol.

Other customers noted the loss of profit small businesses are likely to experience, and said many grocery stores across the county already have liquor stores next to them, such as Giant Food, which is just three doors down from Cranberry Liquors.