New York Liquor Stores Oppose Grocers' Wine Sales

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- The owner of Smithfield Liquor here, Dennis Bardelcick, is one of many who are concerned about New York Gov. David Paterson's proposal to let grocery stores sell wine.

Bardelcick told area television station WPTZ it would force him and about two-thirds of his fellow liquor store owners out of business.

"I don't think I could compete against bigger stores," he said, adding the solution is shortsighted and will put a lot of people out of work.

"We’re going to fight as hard as we can for the livelihood on which we depend," Mark Ressler, vice president of the state Liquor Store Association, told The Buffalo News. "It’s a fight for survival."

Shoppers remain mixed on the plan, which the governor indicated would bring in approximately $100 million in licensing fees, according to the report.
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