Folks from the highly restricted states really don’t get how things are in the loose states. And vice versa. You almost need to live in, or near, one of each to understand the range of arrangements in our 50-state cacophony.
In loose states, liquor stores with a sidelight in convenience store products and convenience stores with a sidelight in basic beers, wines, and even some boozes are very, very common. The emphasis between the two types of stores is different. But there’s lots of product overlap in the middle.
The idea of a government-run store to sell alcohol and only alcohol is just weird. I’ve lived in 6 states and I’ve never managed to have to live in one that backward.
It’s that way in Pennsylvania. Things have relaxed a bit. At one point our State Stores only sold wine and liquor. No corkscrews, no gift bags, no mixers. Now you can buy those things in State Stores.
In Illinois and Indiana you can find bars open at those times because of the steel mills in the area. They run 24/7 so there are three shifts. If you are a shift worker who gets off work at 7a you may want to go for a beer. Seems silly to be drinking at 7a but, to that guy/gal, it is more like 7p. Makes sense to allow that and kinda crappy for California to make that illegal (unless they have no 24/7 industries).
The steel mills are long gone, but Jack’s Bar persists on Pittsburgh’s South Side. It’s a “thing” to go to Jack’s at 7 am for an eye-opener. I’ve done it a few times. A real dive bar.
In canada, government liquor stores (and the aforementioned Brewer’s Retail) used to be the norm. Some provinces are opening up more - on a visit to Alberta recently I noted that every other store is a private liquor store, except now I suspect the stores in between are cannabis sales.
I remember the days when the Ontario liquor stores kept everything behind the counter. You filled out a card from the display pages listing stock, and the staff went and fetched what you ordered. Quebec was a marvel of people who “did things differently”, not because they spoke a different language, but because you could buy beer in corner stores. (Which blue-nosed protestant Anglo’s attributed to that lax Catholic morality of the French.)
I was just in the Oxford Casino in Maine (October 2023). They ID’d everyone. I asked why and they said it was due to the state law. I didn’t believe that, and if it was, I’d bet dollars to donuts it was a state law that they asked for. The manager happened to be there and said it had to do with alcohol sales. I’m 60, my in-laws are 76 and 82 so that was nonsense. I think it gives them latitude to say ‘no’ to those that they don’t want in there.
I’m a 65 year old in Pennsylvania. If I want to buy beer at a grocery store that sells it, I must show my driver’s license and have it scanned. If I buy a six pack and immediately decide I want another, I must show the card again and have it scanned. No way around it.
I can buy liquor in a state store without showing ID, but that’s a state owned business.
Not a big issue either way, but I assume (with all that entails) that the “ID everyone” is a store policy vice a state law. Willing to be proven wrong. I do think stores do this to protect themselves, and to ensure that the store clerks are vigilant (and noted up thread).
There is a part of me that feels as citizens, when we accept this, we’re creating a culture that will someday force us all to have ID on us at all times and show that daily. And I’m not cool with that.
I asked a few different employees at a Giant Eagle about the card everyone, scan every card rule. One person told me it was a state mandate, but I cannot find evidence for this. Two other GE employees told me it is store policy. The store also will not sell beer or wine to someone with a passport as ID unless they are 30 or older, because the employees are not trained to identify a valid passport nor to confirm the person using it is indeed the person the passport was issued to.
Any beer/wine purchased at a Giant Eagle must be paid for at the register in the “restaurant” area. The state allows grocery stores to sell beer/wine currently with very strict limitations. The store must have a dedicated “restaurant” area with seating for 30 people. This is where the beer coolers and wine displays are located. It’s stupid. There are tables and 30 chairs, but nobody is ever seated there.
You can’t purchase from 2am to 6am. You can drink whenever you want. If you need a 5am beer, just buy it in advance. This law has been in place since 1933 and I’ve never heard anyone who has a problem with it (although there must be a few). There are certainly 24/7 factories here but not with the same blue collar culture of the Midwest mills and mines.
How would that work? You have an ID that shows you are 60, but they say “sorry buster”?
Also casinos are good places to launder money, so getting a DL helps when you spot weird transactions. or when you find someone walking around grabbing other people’s winning slips, you dont have to wrestle him to the ground, you can take his picture of him doing it, plus his ID info an turn it over to the police.
My wife and I went to a club a couple of years ago, and they asked for my driver’s license, took it and scanned it front and back. Then they made everyone stand in front of a screen and be photographed like they would in the DMV. I was appalled, and wish I hadn’t done it. But my wife was looking forward to the event, so I didn’t make a fuss.
But I think about the ways this could be abused. Somewhere out there someone has a perfect copy of my driver’s license, and a good headshot. The possibilities for identity theft are obvious.
I was told this is now a city bylaw for any downtown licensed establishment. And that was the last time I’ve gone to one, and I won’t be going again until that policy is changed.
This was in Edmonton. Maybe they were lying to us at the venue and were just harvesting IDs for some other reason. But we were told it was a city bylaw.
I haven’t been in a downtown venue since, so I don’t know if it’s still a thing.
Do you have a cite for this rarity? I’m 65 and have been refused beer at a grocery store when I didn’t have my driver’s license on me. When I buy beer at Giant Eagle there’s often an obviously old person who refuses to have their license scanned and they are denied sale.