[RP TownTalk] (no subject)

[David Hiles]

dear fellow citizens,

for me, this is a quality of life issue.  i'd like to see our town 
gov't help improve this aspect of life in our area.  telling me to go 
elsewhere and stop whining misses the point. or maybe sends me and 
other high income citizens another message...

in many places in the USA, you can routinely buy beer and wine at the 
grocery. in my experience this includes, charlottesville, charleston, 
alexandria, san diego, eugene, austin, etc.  all cool places in my 
view.

buying a box of wine at the grocery store is more convenient than 
having to go to a liquor store. convenience is good.  i'm pretty busy 
and i've always found it irritating to have to go out of my way to buy 
my malt liquor.  irritation and malt liquor, not a good combination...  
anyway, why it is better for our quality of life to have lots of liquor 
stores?  do we have this strange arrangement because of effective 
special interest lobbying? "but dumms's corner and franklin's might 
lose some beer and wine sales."  so what?  they shouldn't get special 
protection in the law.  we would have more bread stores if there was a 
law against sellling bread at the grocery. in jurisdictions where beer 
and wine is universally available at grocery stores, you have fewer 
liquor stores.

i would like someone to explain to me why profit-seeking groceries in 
our area don't routinely sell this staple product.  my guess is 1) 
delegate justin ross is not a dummy, and 2) that "existing law" makes 
it difficult for groceries in our fair county to sell beer/wine, maybe 
particularly if there is a liquor store already near by.  there may be 
something similar at work in montgomery county.    i don't care about 
the glenridge giant or the coop grocery in greenbelt.  i shop at the 
giants in riverdale plaza, in beltway plaza, on queen's chapel road, 
and across from pg plaza. none of these sell beer or wine. why is this 
a good situation and good public policy?  bad, outmoded laws can be 
fixed.

i know people who have left our area because of poor shopping options.  
the trader joe's in the va suburbs do sell wine.  the maryland joe's 
don't.


re trader joe's: wine is part of the dna of this company. see this 
excerpt from their web site.

A SHORT HISTORY - AND FUTURE - OF TRADER JOE'S
Trader Joe's actually began in 1958 as a chain of convenience stores 
called "Pronto Markets” in the Los Angeles area. In 1967, the founder, 
Joe Coulombe, the original Trader Joe, wanted to expand the stores' 
offerings and enhance their image. He doubled the floor space and 
offered hard-to-find, boutique domestic and imported wines and gourmet 
food items at outstanding prices. He decked out the stores with cedar 
plank walls and nautical décor and garbed the Captain (the store 
manager), the First Mate (the assistant manager) and the Crew Members 
in colorful Hawaiian shirts. "Trader Joe's" was born.

WE are who we have been waiting for.
http://riverdalepark.blogspot.com/