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Legal Fun: Privatization Hearings Begin, Happy Hour Flexibility

Posted by Foobooz on February 10th, 2011

Valentine’s Day marks the beginning of Pennsylvania State Senate hearings regarding State Store privatization. [Wayne Independent]

Happy Hour in Pennsylvania could be getting more flexible. State Rep. John Payne proposes to allow bars to set as many hours per day for happy hour, as long as the total doesn’t exceed 14 hours per week. Current law only permits two hours of happy per day.[NBC Philadelphia]

UPDATE: The happy hour legislation also would allow restaurant customers to purchase up to three bottles of wine from a restaurant to take off the premises. [Commonwealth Confidential]


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    This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Drink, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

    • Karen

      They can keep the state stores. Just let independent wine stores open. People would still buy liquor at the state store, and probably wine if they ever learn to store it properly. The prices are often very competitive.

    • Karen

      And any price control is silly.

    • barryg

      Karen, I like this idea. State Stores would lose only a little business and likely gross sales of wine would increase, capturing people that currently go to Jersey or Delaware. Moore Bros would probably open a Phila location overnight.

    • Dan

      Here here! Karen this is a very intelligent idea. Nowadays it is popular to reflexively pooh pooh everything that comes from the government. The truth of the matter is that the “premium collection” stores and their “chairman’s selections” generally beat in price the wines and spirits found at Canals or even Total Wine. Yes, if you are buying cases of yellow tail or other name brand wines you would be better served by a trip to DE, but for mid to up scale wines you are generally better off in PA. Total wines is selling wines that are good for their bottom line and not so much good wines. Now about that storage…it completely depends upon the store manager. Generally speaking the management of the largest wine store, possibly in the state, at 12th and chestnut is horrendous. They are cooking hundreds of thousands of dollars if not a million dollars worth of product at 85 degrees for no other reason than the clerks like it warm in there. Finding anything is a disaster and the clerks treat you with the utmost contempt. Meanwhile, the 19th and chestnut store is run, for the most part, professionally. That is why almost all of the restaurants get their wine from there. In a market economy, admittedly, the 12th and chestnut store would have to adapt or it wouldn’t survive.

    • eldondre

      I’ve often found better deals on midpriced wines elsewhere…heck I even got ruffino cheaper in the DC train station than at the state store. Still, too often the wine is vinegar and you’re kiddin yourself if you think the 12th and chestnut store is unusual. the one on fairmount ave with a shitbox with rude employees and no selection. getting out of the business entirely is clearly the best option, allowing the plcb to focus on law enforcement rather than retail sales. I’d be open to c compromise where wine is sold off, and please, there better be more than 750 licenses. it’s almost like the state HATES mom and pops.

    • Dan

      I hate to burst your bubble, but for the most part Ruffino is an inferior mass produced wine and the PLCB’s prices are right in line with anyone else’s. For example, the Ducale Chianti Reserve is on sale for $22 right now and regularly goes for $23 according to the PLCB’s website. According to wine searcher, which compiles the mean prices across the web, that is perfectly in line with the average. Ruffino’s “Modus” Super Tuscan blend is regularly on Chairman’s and is often cheaper than anywhere else in the country.

      The truth is that so many people assume that the prices will be/are better in private stores but I have never seen much evidence of this.

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