![]() His company, he said, is more interested in returning to the Legislature next year to seek changes in how retail alcohol licenses are capped by municipality. Total Wine is also spending millions on a ballot question in Colorado that would expand alcohol sales locations there.Ĭumberland Farms senior counsel Matthew Durand said the retailers’ ballot committee, Food Stores for Consumer Choice, has decided to remain neutral in this fight. His committee has raised more than $500,000 for this battle this year, about one-fourth of Total Wine’s spending here, as of earlier this month. His members are fighting for survival, he added, while Total Wine is “only fighting to get more money, more market share.” Total Wine, he said, can put his members out of business by undercutting them on prices, through bulk purchasing. The Question 3 battle, Mellion said, is shaping up to be a David vs. “We’re fighting an opposition group with unlimited resources.” “It’s obviously infuriating that a company with over 200 superstores in 27 states is calling themselves a small business when they are the ones that are trying to wipe out small businesses,” Mellion said. Wine displayed at the Total Wine & More store in Everett. Cumby’s, a Westborough-based chain now owned by a British conglomerate, had started to push a ballot question in 2019 that would lift the cap on the number of alcohol licenses that one food retailer could have, but those efforts petered out in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And if Cumby’s or another large retailer tried to do so with another ballot question, MassPack could file a legal challenge, arguing that six years need to pass before voters are asked to decide on a ballot question that is substantially the same. If voters approve Question 3, it could be harder to lobby the Legislature to further expand alcohol sales locations in the future. Total Wine’s TV ad calls Question 3 a “backroom deal” that hurts consumers by doubling licenses for “select high priced chains.” (There’s no indication that Question 3 is a “backroom deal,” as the ad claims, and most of MassPack’s members only own one or a few liquor stores.) “We chose to fight on our own against this unfair and bad ballot measure for Massachusetts consumers,” Cooper added. Once you know the ‘why’ you’ll be on your way to mastering the basics and using your new-found knowledge in every cocktail you mix up. We’ll help you break down the classics into their separate components and understand the logic of flavor profiles and combinationscocktail science. “So much for the free market being alive and well in Massachusetts.”Ĭooper said Total Wine saw no need to “hide behind” a committee. Making the perfect cocktail is a balancing act. “Let’s call this what it is, protectionism,” Cooper said in an e-mail. Total Wine vice president Edward Cooper said his company entered the fray in part because Question 3′s proponents are trying to stifle competition. Andrew Flatley is drinking a Cherry by NOCA Beverages at Total Wine & More. Glassware, accessories and wines on display at the Total Wine & More store in Everett.
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