On the subject of my two obsessions (big-box wine stores and the recent privatization of Washington liquor sales), today I (an Oregon resident) paid my first visit to a Bevmo, which recently opened in Vancouver WA. Until this year, Washington did not have any big-box wine or liquor stores, but the privatization of liquor sales has now made it all possible, all under one big roof.
Being a zinfandel guy, I went straight to the zinfandel section, and I found a limited selection. The had a few nice Ridges at typical prices,but the overall selection was less than most Oregon supermarkets, and far less than the Oregon supermarkets that try to maintain a decent selection of wine. So I picked out a bottle and, by using my Oregon driver’s license, I was able to skip the Washington sales tax (about 8.5%), but I could have paid the same price back home and saved the gas. Oh, well.
In the booze department, the prices shown on the shelf were about the same or slightly higher than the state-monopoly Oregon liquor stores. But handy signs throughout the store pointed out that two additional taxes would be applied at the cash register. The sign gave an example of an inexpensive $15 bottle of booze, which would have an additional $7 or so added at the cash register. One of the taxes was by the ounce, and the other was a percentage (20.5%). So the tax on a $25 bottle of booze would have been about $8 or so. So I passed on buying any booze. But I did notice that their selection was somewhat limited (or about the same) compared to most Oregon liquor stores, and far more limited than the broad-selection Oregon liquor stores.
(Yes, selection varies widely among Oregon state liquor stores. Each “agent” gets to pick his or her own inventory, and some make a real effort to stock all kinds of stuff. The OLCC maintains a website that allows you to view the inventory at many of their stores. In Oregon, the two stores I like the best are Cedar Mill and Portland Center.)
The very helpful clerk explained that the per-ounce tax was going to be abolished in June (I’m not sure why), but the 20.5% tax on top of typical Oregon prices will remain and will keep me from coming back.
An article in the local Vancouver newspaper quoted a Bevmo spokesperson as saying that their prices might be a tad higher, but the selection will bring people in. I do not think so.
I have not yet tried the Vancouver Costco, but I am told they have even less selection, limiting themselves to booze that moves quickly in high volume, such as half-gallons of Tanqueray, etc. I hear that the prices are better , but not as good as Oregon. That’s all rumor. Stay tuned. Your faithful reporter will soon be on the scene. I am sure that my readers (both of them) can hardly wait.
Phil Jones
Drive south, dude! We aint gots none of them isssssues.
Sounds terrible, but I’m sure all those taxes are going to (someone’s) good causes. 
Show your out-of-state driver’s license to escape state sales tax? That’s a new one on me.
WA has long had very high tax on liquor and wine. It is “three buck chuck” up there (it’s two buck chuck in CA). No surprise WA wants to collect roughly their same tax revenue as they did with their state monopoly.
As for Costco, in CA and NV they mostly move big bottles of liquor and a smattering of wines across the board. Since their main wine buyer changed a few years ago Costco is less interesting, unfortunately.
Oregon has no sales tax. In order to encourage Oregonians to visit and spend in Washington, WA allows an exemption. I believe that California did (or used to do) the same thing, but I recall that California retailers required you to let them ship the item to your home in Oregon, rather than carry it out the door.
The presumption behind the exemptions is that you will use or consume the item back home in Oregon, or in some other state that has no sales tax.
The tax in Washington is now much higher than previously, I believe. Costco got the new system approved by the voters by dedicating the tax to police and fire.
Yes, in Oregon, it is also three-buck-Chuck.
Phil Jones
Just because you weren’t impressed with Bevmo doesn’t mean that Oregon’s ridiculous multilevel distributor/broker/retail system does anyting good for consumers. I don’t like Bevmo either - but I’d choose California’s relatively open system over Oregon’s any day of the week!
I have to admit, Bevmo has an extraordinary selection of wines I don’t want.
I agree. (I assume you are talking about wine, rather than liquor.) The wine/beer distributor lobby is very powerful here. They are dedicated to maintaining the status quo on wine and beer.
Some pressure (but not much) has been brought to bear recently, with no success.
An article in a local paper last year stated that wineries’ tasting rooms were required to ship their wines to a warehouse in Salem to be taxed, and then shipped back to the winery tasting room for sale. Yegads.
Phil Jones
This^
I don’t understand their business plan; they are often the high-price leader of the things they sell, which tend to be low-middle tier wine and spirits that often deliver little bang for the buck.
As a producer and a consumer in Oregon, I like the current system we have. As a producer,
-
- I can self-distribute my product within the state (there are limitations on the beer side but none on the wine side),
- I can open a tasting/tap room, where I can sell not only my beer/wine, but wine/beer from others as well, and
- 80% of the small wineries pay no state excise tax and the excise taxes on beer are some of the lowest in the country (BTW, the issue with shipping the wine to Salem and back was a single producer issue, and is not true of all wineries).
The rules we have in place have allowed over 400 wineries and over 150 breweries to flourish. Why would I want to change that?
As a consumer, I can get any bottle of wine that is imported into the state from any retailer. In Oregon, distributors can’t play favorites, or give better deals to the big box retailers. This has resulted in a more vibrant wine retailing scene in Oregon than other similarly sized places. We have a large number of independent retailers (Liner & Elsen, Vinopolis, E&R, Storyteller, etc), and many grocery stores have great wine selections as well (Wizer’s, Zupan’s, some Fred Meyers, and a number of others). We tend to pay more here for large, well distributed brands, we pay less for local stuff, and we can get hard to find wines. What’s the problem?
And with the five-cent sale, you can dislike twice as much wine for the same price!
Don’t get me started on the five-cent sale.
A Bevmo opened in my neighborhood and I stopped in. Simply nothing to buy for me - I drink very little hard alcohol. From what I have read here it seems Total Wine has more to offer, but there is not one near me and I have not been.
Not sure why anyone would cross the border north to buy wine in WA - it is truly a wasteland up here. Some good products available but always at crazy high prices. Thank god for Oregon and the shops in Portand.
Daniel maybe you can educate us on the advantages go the CA system, I lived there for years but don’t understand why it might be better. For OR I could wish for better availability of Louis/Dressner, or Kermit Lynch wines at reasonable prices, but I’m not seeing the big CA advantage at this point in time.
All I know is that I am spoiled for choice in ways that Oregon makes illegal. In California I can buy directly from importers that specialize in great regions all over the world; I get amazing selection and service from shops like K&L while benefiting from the volume discounts that their scale allows (and Oregon makes illegal); and I can buy direct from local wineries that make something other than over-priced Pinot Noir and over-sweet Pinot Gris!
But all that said, there are certainly far worse states for wine-drinkers than Oregon. I love Portland for its amazing wine bars and restaurants and specialty stores. My one trip to the wine country was great fun (though as mentioned above, I did find value a bit lacking and far too much of the aforementioned off-dry Pinot Gris). Still, I feel compelled to stand up for the wine consumer paradise that is Northern California…
Bevmo sucks in California. Why would it be any better in Oregon? Nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Jim – you may want to check out Total Wine in Bellevue. Picked up 2010 Eyrie PN for about $25 and 2010 Cameron Abbey Ridge for $44 (w/ 6 bottle discount). That’s cheaper than Portland. Also found some 11 Drouhin Arthur chard for $23. Portland is still my go-to for buying, but TW is not bad.
Those do seem like systemic advantages. I am strictly a consumer and understand nothing about this.
But I can buy direct from PC and other CA importer directs too right? (I’m assuming I could in Oregon as well, but don’t live there so i’m not sure). Granted when I lived in SF I could pick up in person, and now I have to pay shipping (just as I would in SoCal I guess), but i’ve never had PC charge me CA Sales tax which is what 8.75% now in SF?
Seems like for a consumer, the absence of sales tax in OR would likely offset quite a lot of the extra margin? I find Vinopolis, and Sec Wines just straight up less expensive than K&L for wines I buy - Huet, Cru Beaujolais, Riesling, etc . It may well be that for more in demand wines there are better discounts due to buying muscle. But does it exceed 8.75%?
I almost never buy winery direct in Oregon where full MSRP is generally charged. The wines are all available in retail shops for considerably less. I cannot think of an exception, even John Thomas. I’m not a Gris fan, but I do recommend trying the Teutonic Maresh Vineyard bottling if you have the opportunity. Cheers
Yeah, I keep reading about bargains here and there. I just don’t get out to Bellevue or Tukwila much. They opened the Bevmo right in Ballard, but as I said it was a wasteland for me.