Doubling Liquor License Allotment In Massachusetts

A 2022 ballot proposal seeks to change the liquor license industry as we know it – but in a staggered, controlled fashion. Although there are a few components to the proposal, the most impactful portion of the ballot question proposes to increase the number of licenses available to retailers from the current allotted nine to 18. This proposal comes on the heels of Cumberland Farms unsuccessfully pursuing an unlimited number of beer and wine licenses for food and convenience stores, which created quite the buzz in the liquor license world. Although similar in nature, this new proposal requests additional, not unlimited, liquor licenses, which may lead to a warmer reception than the one the Cumberland Farms proposal met, as this proposed increase is gradual in nature.   Currently, each corporate entity or individual is limited to a maximum of nine total alcohol licenses, including both wine & malt licenses and all-alcoholic beverage licenses.  All nine of these licenses can be all-alcoholic licenses as of now, a ratio that would change under the proposed plan.

This proposal offers a staggering increase of this allotment, which would be laid out like so, according to a recent State House News Service report:

-Increase to 12 licenses in 2023

-Increase to 15 licenses in 2027

-Increase to 18 licenses in 2031

It is important to note that all-alcoholic beverage licenses would be capped at seven, and the remainder of the licenses would have to be used for wine & malt.

However, any licensee who currently holds nine all-alcoholic beverage licenses would be grandfathered in and allowed to keep all nine all-alcoholic licenses.

Mass Pack Executive Director Robert Mellion describes the proposal as an “olive branch to food and convenience stores who previously sought to uncork an unlimited number of beer and wine licenses”, according to State House News Service. Mellion is also quoted as saying that the proposal “is intended to end some of the constant disruptions in alcohol retail that has been going on since 2006”, in a Boston Business Journal article entitled “Six Proposed 2022 ballot initiatives for businesses to watch”.

Cumberland Farms surprisingly did not file a ballot proposal related to alcohol sales, as expected, and this increase from nine to 18 licenses serves as a compromise between Cumberland Farm’s former proposal and what is currently allowed. The State House News Service article elaborates on the notion of compromise by quoting Mellion as saying that, “because many shoppers want to purchase beer or wine alongside their groceries and because package stores rely on spirits to drive much of their business, the language could serve as a compromise that offers benefits to both camps.”

The ballot question contains a few other components as well, such as banning alcohol sales at self-checkout stations; allowing liquor stores to accept out of state IDs and allowing these IDs to be “reasonable defense” against allegations of selling to a minor; and mandating fines based upon a store’s gross sales, rather than alcohol sales alone, if a store is found selling alcohol to a minor.

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, the liquor license industry is changing, and the Cumberland Farms proposal and this subsequent 2022 ballot proposal are paving the way for this change that some owners don’t want to stick around to see how it ends.

 

For similar articles, read The Advisor Magazine by Liquor License Advisor – Issue #7