As you know, Washington voters approved an initiative (I-1183) to privatize liquor sales in retail stores greater than 10,000 square feet. Today, a judge ruled that the initiative was constitutional, allowing for the initiative to go into effect on June 1st. Despite the threat from opponents of I-1183 to appeal the initiative to the State Supreme Court, we also learned today that the next time you’ve got a hankering for peppermint shnapps in your cocoa, you’ll be able to find it at Rite Aid. Given the size threshold for retail stores to qualify to sell liquor, the sales of spirits is largely limited to Rite Aid and Wedgwood area grocery stores.
The store manager at Rite Aid has told Mary Beth O’Neill, who is on the Wedgwood Land Use Committee, that the store will be adding a wine/spirits section at the front of the store. As Mary Beth relays the information, construction will begin April 16th and will add new “fancy-schmancy wood floors” for the wine/spirits section. At the same time, the store will “refresh” the interior with new paint, new tile floors, and wider the aisles. Construction will take approximately 3 weeks. A promotional celebration will follow.
It’s not clear to us yet whether you can get “Wellness Points” for purchasing spirits. That may only apply to medicinal spirits.