Depending on when you're going, it can be a lot cheaper to park than $25, but you want to book sooner rather than later. You don't want to park at a Logan lot, it's cheaper to go to Revere or something a couple miles away, and take a shuttle. Most longterm lots are just hotel parking lots.

Well, I too have intimate knowledge of the industry, from basically all sides, spanning multiple decades and states. Almost every new law hurts retailers. It became about retailers when there was the obligatory "evil retailers lining their pockets" comment somewhere on this thread. Brewers have gotten many laws passed in their favor over the past few years. Good for them! I honestly mean that. Who doesn't love a vibrant brewery scene? If they grow their self-distribution side, it won't necessarily hurt retailers but it also won't sell more beer, the brewers will just keep more of the profit. At least the ones who can self-distribute. Those who are able to afford trucks, warehouses, drivers, etc...and then suddenly the playing field is no longer level. And the real question, as always, is what of the slippery slope? Again, it always leads to more losses for the retailers.

You are correct, the nips/bottle deposit bill is very damaging to retailers, as is the grocery/convenience store bill that is currently alive and seems to come up every year now, it's just potentially a different palm to grease each time.

So I guess if the grocery bill (H5415) doesn't pass this year, I'm asking for support in protecting retailers the next time it is on our doorstep. Probably 6 months from now. And to not assume that your neighbors who toil their lives away in dusty liquor stores, working long hours with few days off and fewer vacations, are somehow multimillionaires just slumming it for the fun of it.

I don't even know where to start with this.

1. The liquor lobby is going to defend its industry. Why would it not? No one else outside of the organization that is paid to defend the industry defends the liquor stores or distributors. That's my point.
2. I did not say retailers and distributors are not making money, but you clearly don't know many retailers. Or distributors. The few boom years of covid were an anomaly, and only for some, and much of the money made did not translate into profits because of tariffs and shipping costs, as well as rising cost of labor. You think retailers make money on beer?? Hahahaha. No. I 'm pretty sure I addressed the stores skirting the rules with multiple licenses; they should not be allowed to do that, but they are because they have the cash and the connections with politicians. In no way does this help small, independent retailers, those to which I refer.
3. Self distribution does not level the playing field. Generally it's been retailers who are the first and loudest cheerleaders for local brewers, it's odd to pit them against one another. But how much money do you think retailers make on Corona, Bud, Miller, etc? Those are loss-leaders. Yikes. The profits are often less than the cost to keep them cold.
4. Which laws do you think have been changed in favor of *small* retailers over the last decade or so, and which laws do you think should or could be changed to benefit retailers in the future? I'm assuming you are aware that independent liquor stores have been squeezed to the brink and forced out of business in more than one state due to large corporations changing the rules in favor of themselves. One case recently went all the way to the Supreme Court, in fact, where state's rights and small business lost. Oh so ironically.
5. Lastly, I don't know if retailers do or don't care about this ONE SPECIFIC BILL but the point is that retailers have faced an onslaught of bills and apparently they are supposed to sit back quietly while their livelihoods die by a thousand shallow cuts. The optimal thing would be an industry that respects each other, for the public to understand what it is that is at stake for individual *small* businesses (and therefore the neighborhoods in which they are located) and ideally, for a rising tide to lift all boats. But apparently that is not the ocean we're sailing in.

Also I know treehouse doesn't distribute. Kind of case in point.

Ok so it's 4k a year vs $1500, everything else I said is accurate. Everyone with a liquor license needs to re-up every year, that's not special. But retailer's pay far more right out of the gate (again: upwards of 100k) with zero opportunity for growth. Retailers cannot purchase any other license. They are trapped in their current, not-very-lucrative circumstances, and they never have anyone to defend them. Most distributors are not raking it in either. RI has some very small distributors, and many more who have failed. They have to pay their suppliers within 30 days, and if they don't get paid in 30 days, then their lives get a bit difficult. And yet no one ever defends them either. If what we're after (aside from tasty beverages) is a healthy environment to create and sustain thriving small businesses connected to and with a stake in their communities, then we need to listen to all of them, not just the ones we happen to like. Rhode Island has managed to protect its independent retailers from going the way of Total Wine carcasses (even though it has a looooong way to go) almost more than any other state. But it's holding on by a thread. Picking and choosing who gets to succeed here isn't really the way to go about fostering that healthy environment. If we're really interested in leveling the playing field, then let's do it for everyone. How? Beats me. But like I said, allowing retailers to sell by the glass, as well as, I don't know, be importers?? Would that be acceptable? How do we maintain our current pretty awesome selection of booze across the board, from beer to byrhh, without throwing some segments under the bus? Are we going to continue to only change the rules for some and never for others? I'm just having a hard time seeing how that is fair.

That’s not really accurate. The three tiered system protects independent retailers and also helps to keep the selection from becoming a corporate cesspool of lowest common denominator swill. Currently brewer’s licenses are far more accommodating and attractive and give brewers more ability to grow and make money than retailers, who have zero opportunities for growth beyond what they can sell off their shelves. Brewers can “brew”, be a restaurant, a retailer (think it’s the equivalent of a case at a time??), and distribute on a license that costs what, $1500? Retailers have to spend at least $100k for a license that only lets them sell retail. So all in all, brewers have it pretty good, which is probably why there are so many of them! Not RI but check out Tree House and all their swanky locations. Impressions can be deceptive but it appears they are making bank. Perhaps the solution is to expand retailer’s licenses so that on-premise sales are allowed as well. Why not have a free for all? Get your scratchy and crack a cold one at your local packy!

Also: pro-union here 🖐️ Don’t want to give the wrong impression. But the grocery bill will turn the Rhode Island wine scene into Florida. People take our selection for granted, but it took a long time and a lot of effort to get it to where it is now. We don’t know how good we have it.

Gotta stay vigilant though.

Teamsters are also trying to force wine and beer sales in groceries and convenience stores, threatening existing liquor stores, 99% of which are small, one-location/license (as mandated by law) family-operations, not rich & greedy power players. These Rhode Island-resident-owned brick & mortar businesses need our help too. It would be a shame to see our neighbors have to close up shop while Bezos cashes in even more.

Lao. Sorry.

Champa on Hope. Laotian/Thai. https://richampa.com

There’s very little profit on liquor, that’s one reason why grocery stores don’t want it. Grocery stores tend to be chains and have way more buying power than independent retailers. They’ll squeeze the little guys where the profit is: wine. Anyway eventually that plaza will be a corporate copycat of all the cool shops that already exist on and around wickenden, and then when those little shops are gone everyone will pretend to be sad when telling tales of where “so & so used to be.”

…And whiskey.

Campus Fine Wines on Brook St has a ton of sake & soju. Has for years.