WILL BEER BE WELCOME in NH LIQUOR STORES?

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE LIQUOR STORES SELL WINE liquor and lottery tickets but they don’t sell beer. For now. McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm looking at ways to boost state liquor store profitability, suggested that selling beer from the stores could net New Hampshire six million dollars a year. The idea is one of several suggested by the firm. Commissioner Mark Bodi said that they are proposing to sell beer in some of the high traffic locations and that beer would be sold by large packages. If all goes according to plan, some state stores will sell more than a 1OOO cases a week – for a gross the state liquor commission estimates at 38 million dollars a year. The proposal is being met with differing views. Beer wholesales like it while retailers are skeptical, concerned that beer will take valuable floor space away from wine and liquor. But it’s not going to happen overnight. Any potential changes at the liquor commission will remain a topic of debate at the state house for some time. There are three separate proposals pending that deal with commission reforms, some of which also appear in the state budget.