Morning Fizz
Speaking of Booze News
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. Add Safeway to the list of big grocers—along with Costco and Trader Joe's—who have contributed big dollars to the liquor privatization initiative, I-1183. The latest campaign finance reports show that Safeway has contributed $50,000 to the campaign.
Costco has contributed over $1 million and Trader Joe's has contributed $50,000.
The initiative would take the liquor business out of the state's hands—allowing stores with over 10,000 square feet to sell booze, as both distributors and retailers. The new liquor outlets would have to give 17 percent of alcohol revenues back to the state.
2. Speaking of booze news. The legislature's special Liquor Distribution Advisory Committee is meeting today to discuss the request for proposal for a private firm to take over the state's alcohol distribution system—a bit of partial privatization that proponents of full privatization such as Costco say simply trades one monopoly for another.[pullquote]Figuring out criteria to determine "a net positive financial benefit to state and local government” when evaluating the proposals.[/pullquote]
One thing the committee is taking up today is figuring out criteria to determine "a net positive financial benefit to state and local government” when evaluating the proposals.
3. And even more booze news: On Friday, Mayor Mike McGinn sent a formal request to the state Liquor Control Board asking the board to approve liquor sales in bars after 2 am. Noting that the idea "has the support of the Mayor, City Attorney, and Seattle Police Chief," as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, McGinn's letter asks the liquor board to approve "on-premises liquor service after 2 am under certain conditions."
Currently, state liquor rules prohibit bars from serving drinks between 2 and 6 am.
4. In yesterday's count of non-white state legislators, we left out Rep. Jeff Morris (D-40, Mount Vernon). Morris is Native American. Adding Morris to the mix, bumps non-white membership in the state legislature to 7.5 percent (vs. 22.7 percent of the state's population.)
5. Discount department store J.C. Penney plans to return to downtown Seattle. The Seattle Times has the scoop.
It's certainly great news for downtown boosters, though on the flip side, a discount retailer could also be seen as another sign of the interminable great recession.
1. Add Safeway to the list of big grocers—along with Costco and Trader Joe's—who have contributed big dollars to the liquor privatization initiative, I-1183. The latest campaign finance reports show that Safeway has contributed $50,000 to the campaign.
Costco has contributed over $1 million and Trader Joe's has contributed $50,000.
The initiative would take the liquor business out of the state's hands—allowing stores with over 10,000 square feet to sell booze, as both distributors and retailers. The new liquor outlets would have to give 17 percent of alcohol revenues back to the state.
2. Speaking of booze news. The legislature's special Liquor Distribution Advisory Committee is meeting today to discuss the request for proposal for a private firm to take over the state's alcohol distribution system—a bit of partial privatization that proponents of full privatization such as Costco say simply trades one monopoly for another.[pullquote]Figuring out criteria to determine "a net positive financial benefit to state and local government” when evaluating the proposals.[/pullquote]
One thing the committee is taking up today is figuring out criteria to determine "a net positive financial benefit to state and local government” when evaluating the proposals.
3. And even more booze news: On Friday, Mayor Mike McGinn sent a formal request to the state Liquor Control Board asking the board to approve liquor sales in bars after 2 am. Noting that the idea "has the support of the Mayor, City Attorney, and Seattle Police Chief," as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, McGinn's letter asks the liquor board to approve "on-premises liquor service after 2 am under certain conditions."
Currently, state liquor rules prohibit bars from serving drinks between 2 and 6 am.
4. In yesterday's count of non-white state legislators, we left out Rep. Jeff Morris (D-40, Mount Vernon). Morris is Native American. Adding Morris to the mix, bumps non-white membership in the state legislature to 7.5 percent (vs. 22.7 percent of the state's population.)
5. Discount department store J.C. Penney plans to return to downtown Seattle. The Seattle Times has the scoop.
Along with Target, a new Penney store downtown makes sense, given the growth in people who live and work there, real-estate brokers said.
Since 2000, the greater downtown population has risen 26 percent to nearly 60,000, more than one-third of whom also work in the urban core, according to the Downtown Seattle Association.
Susie Detmer, a commercial real-estate broker focused on the local retail sector for Cushman & Wakefield-Commerce, said Penney's return would provide more proof that the retail core is "viable for all price points," not only the upper end.
"With a huge daytime population and growing residential population," Detmer said, "the retail core is finally expanding."
It's certainly great news for downtown boosters, though on the flip side, a discount retailer could also be seen as another sign of the interminable great recession.
