You can't buy liquor just ANYWHERE in this state. So why, in an era where government control seems to be out of favor among lawmakers, why is the government-run liquor store still going?
As long as they keep blasting the classic rock like they do at my Gaston Co. local, I don't care who runs it! Also, FWIW, the clerks at all the ABCs I've frequented are some of the nicest folks you'll meet in a retail environment...helpful and friendly to a fault!
ABC stores and distributions is a state jobs program. And the many local boards are lapel pins for the small time, small town people who wangle the appointment. A line on their obituary.
Note: In 1978 I went camping in the mountains with a friend. We stopped in Spruce Pine for our supplies on the way. At the grocery checkout we asked where to find the beer outlet. Checkout person, age ~20 said "down the street here, take second right go uphill to the the house with an oil tank outside and knock on the door." Bob and I looked at each other and decided it best this be a dry trip.
Bootleggers and Baptists. Working together to control alcohol for the last century and still going strong. (Okay, it may not be actual bootleggers and Baptists anymore, but the motivations remain the same.)
NC did allow happy hours into the 80s. I don’t recall exactly when they changed the rule to require all day special drink prices, because they thought it got out of hand. Some places had such good deals, people were doing their entire night’s drinking in an hour or two. I remember at some places you could buy a drink and help yourself to a generous buffet of appetizers. That went away with the rule change.
Georgia has a weird law (well, weird unless you're a mom-and-pop liquor store) where a liquor licensee can only have two stores in the entire state. Costco and Total Wine have exactly two stores in GA that sell liquor. There are some Costcos that sublease out space to a mom-and-pop liquor store.
The mom-and-pop liquor stores also tried to block Sunday package sales in GA, not wanting to open another day in a week for no additional revenue. The convenience stores and grocery stores (coughQuikTripcoughPublixcough) wanted 7 days a week sales since they'd be open anyway.
As a native, I'm very familiar with the motivation of setting up the system. A bonus for ABC stores is that I've seen a lot of products from smaller distilleries there, especially NC distilleries. When you can buy anything anywhere it places pressure to only stock things that sell big - leaving out smaller companies. I like being able to purchase from local and smaller businesses.
I grew up in a country where alcohol is indeed the source of many societal ills and I believe it keeps many a person in poverty. People drink heavily and unlike here, they usually drink hard liquors such as vodka and not beer, which isn't a serious drink for them. It is normal and acceptable to drink to the point of vomiting or outright passing out at the table, I have seen my adult relatives doing this when I was a kid. By my mid-40s, I had already lost a few childhood friends I grew up with to either alcohol-related accidents or outright alcoholism.
So I am totally with Carry Nation. I am amazed that the US has measurable successes in limiting alcohol use and smoking (which is another common thing over there - as a kid, I recall seeing cigarette butts and spits everywhere as I walked). This is precious. Keep the restraining policies. People don't like it, but hey, folks generally don't like seat belts, speed limits or going to the gym either. It always takes an effort to stay out of trouble and the state should be providing guardrails for the weak willed. I see a continuity of policies with the controlled substances here, and the current compromise isn't bad.
Also, we don't even have a decent public transit here in NC, so inviting more drinking in a car culture state sounds like a bad idea.
The first county to pass liquor by the drink was Mecklenburg in 1978. The first ABC license went to Benedictine's Restaurant in the Foxcroft Shopping Center.
If you think it's bad here, check out the situation in Maryland some day.
The mate and I visit my brother in Florida every spring. The day before we return we visit Leukens and stock up on what we need for the coming year. We also pick up a few bottles of rare bourbons for my son, brands unavailable in NC for unknown reasons. He usually travels to Virginia for his purchases. Apparently going out of state is the only way to avoid the poor selection, the high prices, and the creeping feeling you are helping fund corruption.
Great read. I learned a lot, and I was amused by your turn of phrase. I grew up in a dry county (Davie) that had a wet city (Cooleemee) because it had the only ABC store for a long time. And boy, was it hopping!
If ABC stores go away, where would we get moving boxes??
As long as they keep blasting the classic rock like they do at my Gaston Co. local, I don't care who runs it! Also, FWIW, the clerks at all the ABCs I've frequented are some of the nicest folks you'll meet in a retail environment...helpful and friendly to a fault!
ABC stores and distributions is a state jobs program. And the many local boards are lapel pins for the small time, small town people who wangle the appointment. A line on their obituary.
Note: In 1978 I went camping in the mountains with a friend. We stopped in Spruce Pine for our supplies on the way. At the grocery checkout we asked where to find the beer outlet. Checkout person, age ~20 said "down the street here, take second right go uphill to the the house with an oil tank outside and knock on the door." Bob and I looked at each other and decided it best this be a dry trip.
Bootleggers and Baptists. Working together to control alcohol for the last century and still going strong. (Okay, it may not be actual bootleggers and Baptists anymore, but the motivations remain the same.)
NC did allow happy hours into the 80s. I don’t recall exactly when they changed the rule to require all day special drink prices, because they thought it got out of hand. Some places had such good deals, people were doing their entire night’s drinking in an hour or two. I remember at some places you could buy a drink and help yourself to a generous buffet of appetizers. That went away with the rule change.
This is very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Georgia has a weird law (well, weird unless you're a mom-and-pop liquor store) where a liquor licensee can only have two stores in the entire state. Costco and Total Wine have exactly two stores in GA that sell liquor. There are some Costcos that sublease out space to a mom-and-pop liquor store.
The mom-and-pop liquor stores also tried to block Sunday package sales in GA, not wanting to open another day in a week for no additional revenue. The convenience stores and grocery stores (coughQuikTripcoughPublixcough) wanted 7 days a week sales since they'd be open anyway.
As a native, I'm very familiar with the motivation of setting up the system. A bonus for ABC stores is that I've seen a lot of products from smaller distilleries there, especially NC distilleries. When you can buy anything anywhere it places pressure to only stock things that sell big - leaving out smaller companies. I like being able to purchase from local and smaller businesses.
I grew up in a country where alcohol is indeed the source of many societal ills and I believe it keeps many a person in poverty. People drink heavily and unlike here, they usually drink hard liquors such as vodka and not beer, which isn't a serious drink for them. It is normal and acceptable to drink to the point of vomiting or outright passing out at the table, I have seen my adult relatives doing this when I was a kid. By my mid-40s, I had already lost a few childhood friends I grew up with to either alcohol-related accidents or outright alcoholism.
So I am totally with Carry Nation. I am amazed that the US has measurable successes in limiting alcohol use and smoking (which is another common thing over there - as a kid, I recall seeing cigarette butts and spits everywhere as I walked). This is precious. Keep the restraining policies. People don't like it, but hey, folks generally don't like seat belts, speed limits or going to the gym either. It always takes an effort to stay out of trouble and the state should be providing guardrails for the weak willed. I see a continuity of policies with the controlled substances here, and the current compromise isn't bad.
Also, we don't even have a decent public transit here in NC, so inviting more drinking in a car culture state sounds like a bad idea.
The first county to pass liquor by the drink was Mecklenburg in 1978. The first ABC license went to Benedictine's Restaurant in the Foxcroft Shopping Center.
If you think it's bad here, check out the situation in Maryland some day.
The mate and I visit my brother in Florida every spring. The day before we return we visit Leukens and stock up on what we need for the coming year. We also pick up a few bottles of rare bourbons for my son, brands unavailable in NC for unknown reasons. He usually travels to Virginia for his purchases. Apparently going out of state is the only way to avoid the poor selection, the high prices, and the creeping feeling you are helping fund corruption.
Thank you for the entertaining explainer!
Great read. I learned a lot, and I was amused by your turn of phrase. I grew up in a dry county (Davie) that had a wet city (Cooleemee) because it had the only ABC store for a long time. And boy, was it hopping!