Hypocrisy much? I just pulled this from a website, so it could be all jacked up b/c it's right-leaning. But the Teamsters , at least, have quantified some of their funding. Did Barack Obama "buy" the election? Or did he succeed in getting his message across to enough people who liked that message to vote for him? Seems like what happened in 1183.
What I've found interesting throughout the process was that all I saw driving around Vancouver was "No on 1183" signs. Even the commercials were evenly split between No and Yes. I kept thinking to myself "where did all the money Costco spent go?"
The article said that of the 22M Costco donated, "only" 18M was used, so they're probably getting that back. Honestly, I don't know what to make of that.
I only saw "No" commercials here in Seattle... lots of them. I don't think that I saw anything regarding "Yes" other than one of my Facebook friends liking a "Yes on 1183" page. As for where the money might have gone: phone banking, ground work, etc. I dunno. Ed O.
After spending 4 years in central NY where I had to go the liquor store to buy WINE, I love it out here in California. If I need a lot and have time to plan ahead, i go to costco. If I just need some now, I go to CVS, Rite Aid, Vons, Albertsons, etc and grab a bottle. I don't' think I can even think of a pure liquor store and I'm right in downtown SD. With all the other options, there's just no point.
That being said I could see a lot of mom and pop liquor stores going out of business in the NW if it passed.
In Washington the liquor stores are owned and operated by the state. There are no mom and pop liquor stores to go out of business. Ed O.
Same here. I'm shocked at the vote. It appeared that my side was in the vast majority. Elections are easily controlled now that we are forced to mail ballots with our names on them, and one Diebold computer guy does the counting. Prices will go up now that profit's added into them. Government can be more expensive than private enterprise if the government employees are paid more, but in this case, the liquor store employees look like former AAers making minimum wage. So liquor prices will go up, we'll wait in longer lines, and we'll have a more confusing search in a grocery store.
I don't agree with any of this. I bet prices will go down rather significantly and it'll be great not to have to make another stop just to get hard alcohol. Ed O.
jlprk, have you ever been to a BevMo (or a Safeway in California)? I think your fears are unfounded. Now, I don't know what the State's going to do with its already insane liquor tax, but basic economics and business state that a) more competition drives down prices (if you don't like Safeway's price for your Jim Beam, go to Costco); b) economies of scale drive down prices (if Costco puts the same profit margin as the state, then the volume they buy gets them a bigger discount on their orders); c) being able to now bypass a distributor drives down prices; d) more streamlined overhead and internal distribution drives down prices.
a) The overhead of hundreds of retailers vs. one, the state, will drive up prices. b) The economy of scale is probably the biggest argument in favor of the state. c) Why will hundreds of retailers need fewer distributors than a monopoly one? d) That's 4 for 4. All of your arguments are in favor of the state. Most people like to buy it separately, usually a quickie trip Saturday evening, anticipating fun. They will now have to stand in a long grocery line, possibly embarrassed, holding their only purchase, a bottle of booze.
A) I guess we'll agree to disagree, b/c I'm not sure how you think that works B) you think the state of washington buys more than Costco worldwide? C) hundreds of retailers no longer have to go through distributors. No middlemen. That's a large change in this bill. D) That was 3 for 3, obviously they're not in favor of the state, and I don't know why you're so against something that has been shown to work pretty well in 23 other states. Additionally, here's what the state said their challenges were: So, they say themselves that their problems are staffing and infrastructure, inability to discount prices, inability to do either strategic long-term planning or be agile in the short-term, and that they need to work more effectively on their supply chain. Um, I'm not sure how you argue with that.
An internal analysis. I'm sure any big business does the same. The link says that the state profited by $263M in 2005. So taxes will go up, or services will go down, by that amount, now that the revenue will be lost. When you use the park or the zoo or your car you'll pay something more, because drinkers are no longer subsidizing you. You might say there will also be liquor tax on sales, but that was already there and won't change. Distributors and warehouses are a buffer zone, storing a product between the time the manufacturer makes it and the time the retailer needs it. More retailers means more distributors. One monopoly, like the state, can spread the product out to its hundreds of stores as they need it, so will need few distributors storing it waiting for when stores need it, and the monopoly may even warehouse it by itself without needing distributors. Costco is big, but there will be hundreds of other retailers in Washington selling liquor too. So your argument that now there will be fewer distributors is the opposite of the truth.
I told you so. Privatization means prices will go up. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017408836_distributors03.html
