Last month, the Kansas Senate endorsed a bill that would finally -- finally! -- allow grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength liquor, beer and wine. Kansas' arcane liquor laws are the reason that, should you shop at the Hy-Vee on State Line Road, you have to go all the way across the street to the separate Hy-Vee liquor store to buy your booze because it's technically located in Missouri. This is exhausting.
But not everyone is happy about the potential glut of real hooch. In fact, Kansas liquor-store owners are leading a grassroots campaign to stop the bill.
Complaining to Fox 4, Knocky's Liquor Store owner Larry Knackstedt said if the new law passed, that money would go into big, out-of-state conglomerates instead of your friendly, corner liquor store, resulting in closed businesses and lost jobs.
Liquor stores in Kansas are allowed to sell full-strength booze under current laws. If the proposed bill is passed, changes don't got into effect until 2017.
"There are 766 liquor stores in the state of Kansas, and they have had
reports and different kinds of studies that possibly, and probably, 350
to 380 stores will go out of business if this comes in with putting
liquor, wine and beer in convenience stores," Knackstedt told Fox 4.
I'd look up statistics to argue this, but Fox 4 has been awesome and has totally done all my journalism for me. Thanks, Fox 4! Turns out, an economics professor at KU already studied this, and if more retailers got their hands on the product, the resulting competition would actually lead to thousands of new jobs and millions more in state tax revenue. So, there you go.
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Your comments are very misinformed. And you should also know that the Kansas Economit quoted in that piece, along with his report, has already been debunked by a longtime Kansas economist.
Kansas grocers can open a liquor department in their grocery stores today, with a separate entrance. Current Kansas law allows them to do that. If alcohol is such a necessity for them to stay in business, and they can sell it now, why are they not doing so? They do not need to change any law to get the benefits they claim they will get.
The study that claims changing the laws will generate jobs and revenue is flawed. It only calculates the benefits of the system but none of the economic downsides, such as hundreds of small businesses going out of business, rural jobs being lost, costs associated with increased social problems, wholesalers increased costs, etc.
This change will also raise prices on alcohol, takes more than $4 million for the Kansas General Fund and takes tax dollars away from local communities who really need the money.
The only individuals this helps are out of state entities who do not live in Kansas and take their money away from the state. There is nothing wrong with supporting our neighbors first, and out of state entities second.
For more information on this issue, visit www.keepkansasjobs.com
Your comments are very misinformed. You should also know that the Kansas Economist quoted in that piece, along with his study, has already been debunked by a longtime Kansas economist!
Kansas grocers can open a liquor department in their grocery stores today, with a separate entrance. Current Kansas law allows them to do that. If alcohol is such a necessity for them to stay in business, and they can sell it now, why are they not doing so? They do not need to change any law to get the benefits they claim they will get.
The study that claims changing the laws will generate jobs and revenue is flawed. It only calculates the benefits of the system but none of the economic downsides, such as hundreds of small businesses going out of business, rural jobs being lost, costs associated with increased social problems, wholesalers increased costs, etc.
This change will also raise prices on alcohol, takes more than $4 million for the Kansas General Fund and takes tax dollars away from local communities who really need the money.
The only individuals this helps are out of state entities who do not live in Kansas and take their money away from the state. There is nothing wrong with supporting our neighbors first, and out of state entities second.
For more information on this issue, visit www.keepkansasjobs.com
Price Choppers and Hen Houses are locally owned and Hy-Vee is supposedly employee owned,so the only potential "out-of-state conglomerates" is Walmart. Funny how these people didn't like the regulation when Sunday sales were banned and now they suddenly decided that the regulation is good.
Yeah, as a former liquor store employee, this was always the lurking fear at the store: The end of 3.2 grocery store beer. And while it probably will create some jobs, there's no doubt that Mom and Pop stores located anywhere near grocery and convenience stores are going to take a hit. So, good for drinkers, possibly bad for small business owners.
From that professor's study:
"Hall said his research suggests Kansas would have 25 percent more grocery stores, 34 percent more convenience stores, and 58 percent fewer liquor stores if his proposal were adopted. This means Kansas could expect 116 more grocery stores, 449 more convenience stores, and 341 fewer liquor stores under his proposal."
http://kansas.watchdog.org/626...
Check out that video. That economic redundancy Hall is talking about? That's people with jobs.
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