{"id":48752,"date":"2021-02-06T00:55:22","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T07:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-liquor-stores-navigate-a-changing-legal-environment\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:44:20","slug":"durango-liquor-stores-navigate-a-changing-legal-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-liquor-stores-navigate-a-changing-legal-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango liquor stores navigate a changing legal environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sherry
Sherry Wertz, owner of Liquor World, says a law allowing restaurants to sell beer, wine or cocktails with delivery and takeout meals has not hurt her sales, and she thinks the law is a good way to help restaurants hurt by lost business during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Small, independent liquor stores have seen a sea change to the laws guiding their business since 2016, and the new rules of the game do not appear to be in their favor.<\/p>\n

You would expect liquor store owners to be upset about the latest change that allows restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktails in enclosed containers with delivery and takeout meals through July 31.<\/p>\n

Instead, the owners of three Durango liquor stores said the law, adopted in June 2020 by the Colorado General Assembly to help restaurants cope with lost business from the COVID-19 pandemic, is good for restaurants and hasn\u2019t cut into their bottom lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine with it,\u201d said Sherry Wertz, owner of Liquor World<\/a>. \u201cMainly because we\u2019re talking about helping out small ma-and-pa businesses. Here, in Durango, we\u2019re not talking about the corporate world. We\u2019re talking about helping the small guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sherry
Sherry Wertz, owner of Liquor World, says a host of liquor law changes enacted in 2016 included the ability for her store to sell food products, and that&#x2019;s been popular with customers.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A bill has been introduced in the 2021 General Assembly that would make permanent the ability of restaurants to sell and deliver alcoholic beverages with delivery and takeout meals.<\/p>\n

Sharon Gill, owner of Mac\u2019s Liquor Store, said law changes enacted beginning in 2016, when grocery chains were allowed to begin selling full-strength beer, and continuing through the 2020 pandemic law have been the biggest liquor law upheavals she witnessed in 42 years owning the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t affected our bottom line one way or the other,\u201d she said. \u201cReally, it\u2019s not that large of a segment,\u201d she said of consumers ordering alcoholic drinks with their meals.<\/p>\n

A healthy business niche still exists for liquor stores serving people looking to stock their wine racks, their bars and their summer ice chests. People know the most affordable option is still located at liquor stores, she said.<\/p>\n

Mac\u2019s Liquor store manager Robert Payton said helping restaurants helps liquor stores, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good number of our customers work in restaurants. If they\u2019re not making money because they\u2019re closed down, we\u2019re not making money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mike Rich, owner of Wagon Wheel Liquors<\/a>, said, \u201cIt hasn\u2019t hurt our business. I\u2019m happy with anything I can do to help small businesses get through this. People in general aren\u2019t going to go to a restaurant to buy a bottle of wine or a bottle of liquor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wagon Wheel has seen an upswing during the pandemic as more people experiment with their own cocktails after public health measures forced the closure of bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are on the web. They figured out they can make these things themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s new recipes coming out all the time, and the information is right at their fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n

The internet has also sped the time drinks fall in and out of favor, and that\u2019s kept liquor stores on their toes trying to prepare for the next big cocktail, its popularity fueled by social media chatter.<\/p>\n

All three liquor store owners said they\u2019ve weathered the first change in the industry \u2013 competition from grocery stores for full-strength beer sales \u2013 and it mainly caused just a temporary bump in the road.<\/p>\n

Payton oversees the beer selection at Mac\u2019s, and a big part of his hiring stemmed from his knowledge of crafts beers, Gill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve expanded our selection,\u201d she said. \u201cRobert can order beers, and we\u2019re selling them before they get off the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Payton, manager of Mac&#x2019;s Liquors, says his ability to provide a better selection of beers and employees who are knowledgeable about them have protected him from the now 2-year-old law change that allows grocery stores to sell full-strength beers.<\/span>Patrick Armijo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rich said the rising popularity of craft beers protects liquor stores, which can offer a broader selection, and more knowledgeable employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have better selection and service. Our employees are 21 and over,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can discuss beer with the customers. If you\u2019re having a pork roast tonight or a Mexican dinner, they can make a recommendation. In a grocery store, the employees will point you to the beer aisle.\u201d<\/p>\n

One aspect of the 2016 law that has had greater impact on the Front Range than in La Plata County is liberalizing the number of stores chains and independents can operate.<\/p>\n

On the Front Range, grocery chains and chain liquor stores have been buying out independent liquor store licenses of any operator within 1,500 feet of their site so they can open, own and operate additional full-service liquor stores. Purchasing the licenses of nearby stores is a requirement of the 2016 law to allow multiple ownership for large chains.<\/p>\n

Under the law, chain grocery stores can currently own up to five full-service liquor licenses, and that number goes up to eight in 2022. In 2027, chains can own 20 full-service liquor licenses and in 2037, all limits go away.<\/p>\n

Also under the 2016 law, small independent liquor stores can now operate two stores, that increases to three stores in 2022 and four stores in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf south City Market wanted to operate a full service liquor store, they\u2019d have to buy me out,\u201d Rich said. \u201cIf Albertsons wanted to operate one, they\u2019d have to buy out Liquor World. If north City Market wanted to operate one, they\u2019d have to buy out Mac\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The buyouts are happening on the Front Range, but not in rural parts of the state, Rich said.<\/p>\n

The limits on the number of licenses, at least through 2037, has kept chains focused on the Front Range.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t going to be coming here,\u201d Rich said. \u201cPeople fish where the fish are. Why would you come here when you have hundreds of bigger markets to choose from?\u201d<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

with restaurants selling alcohol with delivery, takeout meals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[924,685,13,450],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-48752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alcohol","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-restaurant-and-catering"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87452,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48752\/revisions\/87452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48752"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=48752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}