Source: WATE.com
By JOSH AULT
Aug 10, 2012
The wine
sales in grocery stores debate is heating up again after the arrival of Trader
Joe's in Knoxville.
Wine sales
is one of Trader Joe's staple points, but it is currently illegal to sell wine
in Tennessee grocery stores.
Aimme
Pawelek, the manager at the new Trader Joe's location in Knoxville, says wine is
the store's most popular item. She says since they can not sell it in Knoxville,
you will have to drive a long way to get it.
"I think
Lexington will be your closest location," Pawelek said. "You have South
Carolina, North Carolina, and then Georgia as well."
One
business who is not complaining about the lack of wine at Trader Joe's is Bob's
Liquor Store across the street. They saw a 20 percent jump in business on
Friday.
"There is
only so many wine and spirit drinkers, and they will just be spread out
further," Bob's Liquor Store wine manager Bob Widdows
said.
Widdows
says he does not feel Trader Joe's needs to sell wine. Along with less business
for his store, there are other things customers would miss out
on.
"You lose
the expertise of people trained to (sell wine)," Widdows said. "You lose the
quality and control of the people, ages buying the thing at a certain aspect,
and you also lose all the jobs and revenue that we are providing for this
community."
Many
customers at Trader Joe's say they want to buy wine at the chain's Knoxville
location.
"It's a
part of normal diet, so people should be able to buy it and enjoy the benefit of
it, but also price wise, because they have wonderful prices," Helina Jubson,
aTrader Joe's customer, said.
Since
2008, the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association has been
supporting legislation to bring wine to grocery stores in the
state.
They even
started a campaign called Red, White, and Food.
So far,
none of the bills introduced have made it out of
committees.
Officials
in the organization say they expect another bill to be introduced in January
when the legislature begins again.
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