Compliance Challenges: Changing Laws Keep Grocery Store Managers on Their Toes
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
By David Gaudet
Voters in Colorado could rewrite state law this November, when they vote whether to permit the sale of wine at grocery stores and to allow third-party alcohol delivery.1,2 The proposed changes bring with them near-immediate need for increased and diversified employee training to ensure lawful sale of extended inventory and delivery options. The proposed double-whammy of changes won’t be taken lightly by the state’s roughly 1,600 licensed liquor stores – many of which are mom-and-pop operations.
On the Vine
The majority of grocers in Colorado are permitted to sell only beer, leaving liquor stores to reap the rewards of hard alcohol and wine sales. National grocery chains and tech companies want to change this. Separate, yet related, within the Centennial State, only liquor stores can partner with or provide delivery of alcoholic beverages direct to consumer homes. Should grocery stores be awarded alcohol-delivery autonomy, delivery platforms, such as Door Dash, Instacart and others, stand to gain exponential opportunity.
If either bill passes, and history reveals Colorado voters know what they want – they voted in favor of making full-strength beer available at grocery stores in the 2016 election – grocery stores will have to ramp up employee training to ensure clerks and drivers are well-versed on sales procedures and proper validation of ID.
Whether you operate a grocery or liquor store in Colorado, or beyond, The BARS Program can help you to develop and implement exceptional employee training platforms to ensure success and safeguard against uncertainty. Visit www.barsprogram.com to acquire more information about how BARS works.
Sources
1Colorado Public Radio, 08/04/2022; Family-owned liquor stores face uncertain future as voters could decide key changes at the ballot
2The Denver Post, 08/26/2022; Colorado voters to decide whether grocery stores can sell wine
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