Gordon Forgey: Privatized liquor sales start Friday

The people have spoken, and, on Friday, hard liquor will no longer be sold by the state. It will henceforth be sold by private retailers. The network of state liquor stores has been closed, and new retailers are preparing for business.

The change is the result of Initiative 1183. It was passed by popular vote with the help of a lot of money from hopeful booze sellers. The most prominent of which was Costco.

Aside from the changes in distribution and retailing, another dramatic change is expected: The historically high prices for hard liquor in Washington are expected to get even higher.

If voters were hoping for retail prices like those in California, where hard liquor is cheap and sold virtually everywhere, they are going to be sadly disappointed.

An Associated Press story estimated that prices may increase as much as 20 percent over the old state-run store prices.

A lot is still left to be decided and worked out. Retailers will strive for competitive pricing and larger sellers may get volume discounts, but this is no boon to the consumer.

Not only that, in order to keep the state’s share of revenues, local municipalities will get less money from the sale of hard liquor than before.

So far, in fact, nobody appears to benefit except for the new retailers who now have a new revenue stream and new source of profit.

The vote in large part was influenced by anti-government sentiment and the call for privatization.

Time will tell how all this washes out, but the results could give voters pause the next time a popular movement sounds too good to be true.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher