Colorado groceries and convenience stores that added full-strength beer to their shelves in 2019 are about to pop the cork on wine sales.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Safeway, Walmart, King Soopers, 7-Eleven and others can begin to sell wine — the result of Proposition 125, a hard-fought ballot measure that was narrowly approved by Colorado voters in November and authorized an expansion of wine sales beyond traditional liquor stores.
Grocery and convenience stores that are licensed to sell liquor — currently 1,877 outlets statewide — now also will be eligible to sell wine, Colorado Department of Revenue spokeswoman Suzanne Karrer said via email.
And most are expected to do so.
Large grocery retailers like King Soopers and Safeway were in the heat of preparation Tuesday, the night before sales could begin.
Kris Staaf, director of public affairs for Safeway, said they have been working with the company’s wine wholesalers, distributors and store teams to be ready to receive products and stock shelves. Owned by Idaho-based Albertsons, Safeway has received wine deliveries over the last week from wholesalers and distributors and employees will stock shelves during Wednesday's early morning hours in advance of the launch of sales at 8 a.m.
Since Safeway already has some stores with full liquor licenses in Littleton, Lakewood and Lone Tree, they already have relationships with sellers based on the stores the company already works with. Staaf said consumers can expect to see name brands, international options and local wines at various price points.
“Our plan is to carry an assortment of wine at various price points from various distributors,” Staaf said. “And the amount of wine we are going to carry is really going to depend on the size of the store.”
Jessica Trowbridge, a spokesperson for King Soopers, said that this is an exciting time for Coloradans.
“Customers have been asking for the convenience of a one-stop shopping experience that allows them to pick up a bottle of wine along with their groceries,” Trowbridge said in an email. “We are looking forward to meeting our customers' evolving needs and continuing to provide customers with the items they are looking for.”
Walmart customers will find a wide range of wines, from Proseccos to Pinot noirs, as well as the retailer's private label brands such as Oak Leaf, Winemakers Selection & Reserve and Uno Mas Margaritas, Samantha Link, a Walmart merchant, said via email.
Walmart's wine sales "will create a one-stop shopping opportunity for our customers enabling them to save money, live better," Link said, echoing the retailer's familiar marketing slogan.
Voters approved Proposition 125 by a 50.6% to 49.4% margin after a bitter fight between large retail chains that pushed for wine sales and smaller liquor outlets that opposed them. Voters rejected two other measures — one that would have allowed third-party companies to deliver alcohol from restaurants, bars and liquor stores and another would have allowed a gradual expansion of the number of liquor stores operated by one person or business.
The Colorado Licensed Beverage Association was out-spent 32-1 last year across the three propositions, according to Executive Director Chris Fine. The trade group represents about 1,600 independent and mom-and-pop liquor stores.
“It was really just simply a money play, it was a greed play,” Fine said. "All of these were large, out-of-state corporations who were just coming into Colorado for a money grab, pure and simple."
However, Fine said the group helped raise awareness for Coloradans about the difference between purchasing from large retailers versus local establishments. Now that both beer and wine are able to be sold in more stores, Fine said he is concerned that a significant amount of mom-and-pop liquor stores in the state are at risk of losing their businesses.
“If you’re losing 400 to 600 businesses as it relates to this one piece of legislation, that’s very concerning for us,” Fine said.
He expects that a new dynamic will begin to play out in Colorado that is much more like other states that have similar laws, where customers will use liquor stores as experts on all forms of alcohol and purchase their common wine bottles in grocery stores.
“I understand convenience, and our argument has always been convenience at what cost,” Fine said. “They’re not going to the stockers. They’re not going to folks who are stocking crackers right next to there asking them for a good recommendation to pair with their swordfish or what have you … what they’re going there for is just the quick national brand because that’s what the grocers are doing.”
Safeway's Staaf, however, disputed the argument that groceries and convenience stores will gobble up liquor outlets because they're adding wine sales.
"Liquor stores said the same thing when we began selling full strength beer in 2019," she said via email. "There are more liquor stores now than in 2019. We co-exist and will continue to do so with the rollout of wine. Liquor stores will always carry different products than grocery stores (and they sell spirits). Safeway sells wine in nearly every state we operate in and we coexist with liquor stores."
