10 February 2008

Revising Stupid Beer Laws

MSNBC is currently fronting an article (by way of Conde Nast) about revisions of antiquated beer laws across the US. It looked like the guy writing it knew what he was talking about, and then I noticed it was by Lew Bryson.

We often roll our eyes in disbelief at some of the laws we have in this country, but Bryson makes an interesting point about disrupting the status quo:

Great, right? It’s great for consumers, maybe, but highly disruptive for the tavern and beer-store owners. The case law has shaped their business — down to the fact that beer stores have concrete floors and wide aisles for moving ­pallets of cases around, and they lack nice shelves and glass-front coolers and display units. The guys who laid out big money for bar licenses to sell six packs — they can run as high as $500,000 — may wind up expensive curiosities. As one store owner told me, “I’ve got to change my whole store to accommodate this.”
The "case law" in question is a Pennsylvania law requiring a separate license for selling six-packs. Dumb, perhaps, but you can't really blame the guy who just ponied up for a license for being upset. Of course, it's a different story when you're talking about big businesses that actually lobby for stupid laws to begin with.

No comments: