Restaurant Owners vs. PLCB … Re: GTC
t says: I didn’t know about this, but I recently was linked to this article via foobooz. Restaurant owners feel it unfair that there’s a PLCB-certified shoppe within Garces Trading Company, a venue that contains a BYO restaurant. I believe they feel that this is an unfair advantage in Garces’s favor. But what if the PLCB opened up a shop right next to GTC – would that be ok? Or maybe the little wine store needs to be staffed by non-GTC employees? I dunno.
Of course, the restaurant owners say that they aren’t targeting Garces, but they are taking a shot at the PLCB with a lawsuit. On one hand – I’m not a PLCB fan. On the other hand, I don’t want to accidentally hurt GTC, which is a great, not-expensive-but-tasty place to go for food!
after dinner sneeze 
The little wine store IS staffed by non-GTC employees; it’s technically a State Store, so it’s staffed by PLCB employees (unionized employees, if that makes a difference). I’ve talked to the restaurant owners, and they don’t blame Garces: it’s too good an offer to turn down. But it’s not fair: not only does this give Garces an incredible advantage in extending the State’s retail wine monopoly into his ‘store,’ the wines available there are exclusives. Hardly fair at all.
Lew Bryson
1 June 2010 at 1:48pm
t says: Thanks Lew, I appreciate the post! Knowing no people in the restaurant industry, myself, I’m happy to have the input.
Hypothetically, if it was made so that you had to physically exit the wine store via a door that dumps you outside onto the sidewalk, and then walk back into GTC through a neighboring entrance, would that be ok? Or is there some other cooperation going on that I’m not aware of?
Also, and I may be completely wrong about this, I thought that the wines at GTC were available via SLO through the PLCB? No? I guess I just thought that GTC would stock wines that weren’t kept in stock at other Wine and Spirits Stores, but if you wanted, you could still order them and have them shipped to your local PLCB store? If this is the case, then I don’t really see GTC having that much of an advantage, because there are tons of wines at PLCB stores that GTC doesn’t offer. However, if these wines are truly GTC-specific, then I agree that it is incredibly unfair that GTC gets access to wines that no one else in the state does.
afterdinnersneeze
1 June 2010 at 3:31pm