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Charlestown packies, some residents worry new full-service liquor store could ensnare neighborhood in Demon Rum's grip
By adamg on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 2:55pm
The Charlestown Patriot-Bridge reports that an effort by a Bunker Hill Street market with a Latino clientele to expand from beer and wine to all sorts of liquor faced spirited opposition at a recent meeting from both Charlestown's existing packies and others who say they don't want to go back to the bad old days when the Town had the nation's highest density of gin joints. A lawyer for Sanchez Market said his client is just trying to better serve his Spanish-speaking customers.
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Comments
Someone please explain
Why in the heck do the existing liquor stores get to say anything about this?
Of course they don't want competition! So what?
They have as much right to speak as anyone else
Doesn't mean they necessarily get their way.
That’s how protection rackets work
“You pay us money and we’ll keep competitors out of your turf.” Having paid
protectionfor a license, the existing packies are asking the city to keep up its end of the deal.That's not how protection rackets work
Right now, all of us are free to rob any of the existing liquor stores in Charlestown, with only the chance of being caught by the authorities (and good morals) being the only thing that stops us. When there is a protection racket being run, not paying the group running the racket can mean theft or other kind of violent activity.
This is restraint of trade through a closed system. It's like when Brooks Pharmacy wanted to open a location at the old Ashmont Discount store in Roslindale Square and the existing pharmacy got his friend Thomas Menino to stop that. And yes, I get all my prescriptions from the CVS at the Target located at the old Ashmont Discount location, because screw the Village Pharmacy.
sounds like they know they'll
sounds like they know they'll lose, and don't want the competition
The customers can frequent
The customers can frequent the existing stores now for their grog, so why not continue on? Why do they need a specialized vendor where one does not exist, It aint easy running a packie in C Town as it is , why dilute the revenue and make it harder for the stores that have endured the past.
So by that rationale...
Never should another pizza joint open in Charlestown, nor a nail or hair salon, nor ...
Charlestown, where entrepreneurship goes to die...
There are restrictions on
There are restrictions on liquor licenses. This tilts the playing field , an exception for questionable reasons. There is a system to acquiring a liquor license, and it costs money. You want to punish the existing store operators for playing by the rules?
Um
Wut?
Punish? Huh?
Really?
I have a little sympathy...
... for someone who buys into a protection racket (e.g., by paying huge amounts of money for a liquor license or a taxi medallion or any other form of artificially-created scarcity) and who then loses value when the racket is finally eliminated.
But only a little sympathy. If you're going to live by the sword (i.e. profit from artificial scarcity), you can't then complain when you die by the sword (lose the value of your license or medallion when the artificial scarcity is alleviated)
Centralized economy is awesome
Yeah, before you get to open a pizza joint, you should have to appear before the licensing authorities and prove that the neighborhood needs one.
Before you get to open a bank
Fixed it for you.
Competition is the life of trade
Competition is the life of trade. Grant the license, it can always be suspended or revoked if they break the rules. The need to serve Spanish speaking customers seems like a stretch since the store is located in the United States, packaging will remain the same and the transactions will be made using US currency. How are Spanish speakers obtaining alcohol now? Grant it on merit, not special interests.
Not that much of a stretch
Seems pretty plausible that Spanish speakers might have different backgrounds and thus different interests in particular brands or styles of alcohol. Same reason a Japanese person probably isn't going to their local Irish pub for a warm sake or a Scottish person might swing by The Haven because they've got Belhaven on tap. Sure you can get those things elsewhere but it's nice to have a convenient place in your neighborhood - maybe the other packies need to improve their selection if they're worried about competition?
Spanish Speaking Customers
may be obtaining alcohol from other Charlestown establishments where they are currently being treated like dirt because they are Spanish speaking customers.
Treated like dirt ? Sounds
Treated like dirt ? Sounds like a stretch
Another theory
They might be buying their preferred libations in another city or town entirely.
Imagine that!
The locals should be more concerned about Total Booze in Everett and other superstores.
Millions of people in the United States speak Spanish
Millions of people in the United States speak Spanish, English is not the only language in this country nor is it an official or mandated language. Wonder why Spanish speakers might seek out an alternative your racist "this is America speak English" is probably a good indication.
Great so see all the free
Great so see all the free-market capitalists shouting out here!