Last week, the same judge, Marsha Pechman, ruled in favor of Costco on the remaining arguments in the lawsuit. In cutting the legs out of most of the Washington Liquor Board's laws and argument she said:
If the state desires to promote temperance by artificially increasing beer and wine prices, the state could readily achieve that goal in a manner that does not run afoul of the Sherman Act.
Ultimately, the decision means the that the Washington State Liquor Board cannot:
- Force a 10 percent markup products sold by producers and distributors;
- Ban volume discounts on beer and wine to retailers;
- Ban credit sales to retailers;
- Ban central/retailer warehousing of beer and wine;
- Mandate that beer and wine distributors and producers post and hold prices for a month;
- Mandate that wholesalers charge uniform prices to all retailers;
- Mandate that wholesalers charge equal "delivered" pricing to all retailers, regardless of actual delivery cost.
While the judge placed a 30-day stay on her decision in order to give the defense time to consider an appeal, I don't think it will file one. As more and more of these laws are argued in front of today's judges they are finding that while the 21st Amendment gave states the right to control the distribution of alcohol, many state laws are two-faced. That is, some of the laws don't apply to in-state businesses and therefore unfairly penalize out-of-staters and this is unfairly restricting commerce under the guise of controlling the distribution of alcohol.
What does this all mean for you? If you live in Washington you soon might reap the benefit of Costco's lawsuit and find lower beer and wine prices at retailers throughout your state. Though some might complain that this law will hurt the little guy — low volume retailers and small production wineries. But let's face it, the laws weren't designed as protectionist measures — and they shouldn't be. Producers and retailers can win customers with age old methods — quality product, customer service, and a positive shopping/purchasing experience. After all, price really doesn't matter.
Does it?
Article comments
1 - anonymous
the 19th amendment was giving women the right to vote.
the 18th amendment was prohibition.
2 - allan Karl
ahhh. thank you anonymous. a slip of the keyboard and the typo made it through the blogcritics editors even... thanks... I've fixed the error and it now reads correctly.