Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080227
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLYNE H. McWILLIAMS BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WOULD YOU BUY LIQUOR WITH PLASTIC?
You might soon be able to say "charge it" when you buy a bottle of booze.In Virginia. In one of the conservative, state-monopoly stores.
A bill that would allow customers to pay for liquor with a credit card or a personal check passed the House of Delegates this week and is headed to the Senate.
"ABC stores should be placed on the merchandising footing of the 20th century," said Rep. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, one of the bill's patrons. Woodrum said he thinks consumers should have the same options in paying for a bottle of liquor at a state ABC store as they do in buying mixed drinks at restaurants.
Customers at liquor stores differed on whether their buying habits will change if the bill is passed.
"If you charge other things, what difference is it?" asked Elaine Graham as she shopped in the Alcoholic Beverage Control store on Jefferson Street in downton Roanoke. Graham said she probably would use her credit card, but she wasn't sure. She said she thinks there might be more people willing to use credit cards than cash, and it would be nice to have a choice.
The store's assistant manager, William Carper, said his clientele includes downtown workers and "street people." Because the bill has not yet passed, store personnel have been advised by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control not to comment.
The department is neutral on the issue, said ABC Board spokesman William Gee. Whatever the legislature decides, the agency will support "wholeheartedly," he said.
Consumers and owners of restaurants and bars have commented on the proposal, however, during seven public meetings the state held last year. Arguments for the change included customer convenience; an argument against was that there would be problems collecting on bad checks.
In its most recent annual report, the state ABC department reported sales of $306 million in the year ended June 1991. The agency's profits and taxes amounted to $141 million.
Melissa Mays of Roanoke, shopping Friday at the Towers Shopping Center ABC store, said she was opposed to the use of credit cards because clerks wouldn't be able to tell if they had been stolen.
Patrick Campbell, district supervisor for the ABC Board in Southwest Virginia, said the bill is meant to make it easier on the customer, not to advocate drinking.
"Our mission is to ensure public safety and that would defeat our purpose if the purpose was to increase consumption."