Not an ITB guy - but am very curious. Being an Illinois resident I’m under the impression that this state is not friendly to a single entity having all three tiers under one roof.
A) is this true?
B) do any states allow this?
A substantial exception to the three-tier system, becoming effective in 2012, is the State of Washington. In November 2011, voters in Washington approved Initiative 1183, which essentially dismantles the three-tier distribution system and the state-operated retailing system for the sale of liquor and wine in the state. Under the modified law, the prior state-operated liquor retailing system is required to be dismantled in favor of a private retail system. Retailers may bypass distributors by purchasing directly from producers, may negotiate volume discounts, and may warehouse their inventory themselves.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-tier_(alcohol_distribution)
WA will be interesting to see how this evolves, but really isn’t what I think Chris is asking about. He’s talking ‘tied house’ rules, and while WA retailers can now buy directly, they can’t own an interest in the other tiers, and vice versa.
Massachusetts.
You can even operate them all from under one roof!
Chuck, you’re correct. I’m wondering where you can be the Importer/Distributor and if you wish, a retail entity.
Brent - doest that further description still hold based on your answer of “operate under one roof”?
Thanks guys
Follow up stupid question.
You’re mr ‘3-hats’ in Mass. Does that mean you can sell your wares to retail outlets in Illinois?
I’m going to assume, “Of course not - that requires an Illinois importer/non-foreign license”.
Chris,
I’ve been out of MA for a while and the one detail that I forgot about was possibly you need an offsite bonded warehouse for the wholesale/import side but certainly doing business out of an office that is a) not the warehouse site and b) specifically located in the retail entity is not an issue.
I don’t know what you’re referring to in your first post about ‘further description.’
To answer your last question, I think you answered it yourself. A Importer/Distributor/Wholesaler based in any state and still do national brokering for brands. However you need a local agent to facilitate the retail delivery. For instance I like a bunch of the wines from Adam Sager and Winesellers Ltd. based out of Niles, IL. However I can’t buy directly from them; they sell their wines through multiple NY wholesalers and I buy the wines from those companies.
California: see Kermit Lynch. I don’t think you are allowed to have a spirits license though if you import / distribute / retail.
Atherton as well.
hey chris -
i think justin mentioned this to you at Domaine a couple weeks ago, but you can be all three entities in DC.
In Indiana a wholesaler can sell to the general public. They don’t but I have been told by a couple of wholesalers they can sell a certain amount.