Coloradans will see wine in grocery stores Wednesday
A big change coming to Colorado grocery stores on Wednesday
"I saw a glass of wine on a sign and thought that looked very promising," April Brennan said.
Brennan who was shopping at the King Soopers in Lakewood is among the Coloradans looking for a little more convenience in life.
"Just because I can get all my grocery shopping done, like a one-stop shop type thing," she said.
Voters approved the sale of wine in grocery stores last November and stores taking part in the sales have been stocking up.
"Our teams will be here excited and busy stocking the shelves with bottles so our customers can pop the bottles when they get home," said Jessica Trowbridge, a spokesperson for King Soopers.
More than 100 of their stores will carry wine starting March 1.
"It's a big change for us it's something we have heard from our customers for years that they want that convenience," Trowbridge said.
The ballot measure was narrowly approved with small business owners and their supporters arguing the change would shutter their operations.
CBS News Colorado spoke with researchers at Colorado State University, who are studying the potential impacts of the change. They estimate liquor stores across the state will see roughly a 5% loss in sales.
"Liquor stores have a symbiotic relationship with grocery stores. They open as close to grocery stores as possible to intercept traffic. They were selling products that were not available in grocery stores. Now, as we start liberalizing more the distribution, grocery stores are becoming more competitors," Marco Costanigro, a professor of food economics at CSU, said.
Shoppers like Brennan say they won't stop visiting those specialty stores altogether but like having options.
"I think small businesses deserve the right to keep going and that's always a little bit of a thing but convenience is really important so there's got to be a balance," she said.
The change comes nearly five years after Colorado approved the sale of full-strength beer in grocery stores, which Costanigro says cost liquor stores an additional 5% in sales.
