Costco Hates Temperance As Much As You Do
Seattlest likes a good stiff drink as much as the next person. We also like Costco, which keeps us out of the poorhouse when it comes to feeding our two gigantic 100+ lb hounds. And we like Costco even more for sticking it, continually, to the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Said board plans to appeal an April 21 ruling by a federal judge that concluded, according to the Seattle P-I, "...the state's three-tier system for distributing beer and wine violates federal anti-trust laws and must be changed."
Despite the fact that the Board claimed the ruling "failed to balance legitimate societal concerns about the negative effect of alcohol consumption with the interests of large corporations that profit from the sale of alcohol", the Board is really representing the interests of local beer and wine distributors, who liken Costco to Wal-Mart, and are pitching it as an evil big corporation set to ruin them. That has very little to do with "temperance" or "the negative effect of alcohol." We don't think the local distributors are really worried about either of those things.
As Dave Burman from Perkins Coie (the law firm representing Costco when the suit first got started) pointed out back in 2004: California still has plenty of distributors and specialty wine and beer shops, and they don't have similarly restrictive laws. We have to concur; Seattlest will still visit a few of our favorite small specialty wine stores in Seattle that have unusual selection and extremely wise, informed employees to help guide us in picking a wine when one is needed for a special occasion. And we'll also grab a bottle or six from Costco when picking up the monthly 40lb bag of dog grub.
