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For some grocery stores, wine could arrive in 2017

Jamie McGee, Gannett Tennessee
Published 10:34 a.m. CT Nov. 6, 2014

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville, center, prepare to sign a petition in June at a Kroger grocery store in Nashville, kicking off a campaign of petition drives for local referendums on wine in grocery stores.
(Photo:
Mark Zaleski / File / The Tennessean
)

For some supermarkets eager to begin selling wine in Tennessee, bottles might not hit shelves for 2½ more years without the blessing of nearby liquor stores.

In a referendum vote Tuesday, voters in 78 Tennessee municipalities permitted grocery stores and big box retailers to sell wine beginning in July 2016. To give liquor stores more time to adjust to grocery store competition, the General Assembly determined that retailers within 500 feet of existing wine stores will not be allowed to sell wine until July 2017, unless they are able to reach an agreement with the nearby wine shop.

“Anecdotally, liquor stores have tended to locate near food stores because wine and food go together, which is the whole reason behind this whole thing,” said Rob Ikard, Tennessee Grocers & Convenience Store Association president. “(The distance exception) was just the nature of the compromise that was struck in order to give (consumers) the opportunity to vote on it.”

Liquor stores that choose to begin selling other items previously off limits — mixers, food items, corkscrews, etc. — before July 2017 will not be able to keep grocery stores within the 500-foot limit from selling wine, he said. Presumably, liquor stores will prefer to sell other items by that time and allow nearby stores to start selling wine in 2016.

Ikard and other grocery store representatives did not know how many area stores the delay would potentially affect.

“Our plan is to be ready to sell wine in our stores come July of 2016,” said Melissa Eads, Kroger spokeswoman. “While we are hopeful that we won’t face any delays due to a liquor store being within 500 feet of one of our stores, we understand that is a possibility.”

Additionally, grocery stores will have to determine how to fit wine bottles on their shelves. Kroger customers should not anticipate less shelf space for beer, and after the store’s shifting of current aisle arrangements, shoppers may not notice the changes, Eads said.

Publix builds its stores with wine sales in mind, and in states where wine is restricted to liquor stores, the store spreads out other products, such as offering an international food section in some stores. If wine is approved, those items are put in other areas, said spokeswoman Brenda Reid.

Under the new law, grocery stores will be required to mark up wine by 20 percent to keep them from offering discounts that undercut competing liquor stores.