HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a case on whether convenience and grocery stores can sell beer without also allowing customers to drink in the store, said The Patriot-News. Meanwhile, a Sheetz Inc. convenience restaurant and store in Altoona, Pa., may soon resume beer sales.
The question arose this year when Commonwealth Court in February ruled 4-3 that the Sheetz location could sell takeout beer only if patrons could also drink the beer at the store, which the retailer itself had not planned to allow.
Sheetz had received a license from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), but the move was challenged by the trade association that represents hundreds of beer distributors in the state. The Malt Beverage Distributors Association is concerned that grocery and c-stores will emerge as unfair competition, said Robert B. Hoffman, the association's attorney.
The Sheetz case is expected to set a precedent for the sale of beer in c-stores statewide.
Another report, by WJAC-TV, added that the ruling temporarily lifts the ban on beer sales at the Sheetz store, meaning it may soon start selling beer again. Amid ongoing legal battles, the location has not sold beer since April.
Since the appeals could take about six more months, the judge ruled that Sheetz can resume beer sales while those cases are being heard.
Sheetz officials told the TV station that they hope to start selling six-packs and 12-packs of beer to go as early as this weekend, but the PLCB must first issue a new liquor license, all employees must be trained and certified and the coolers must be stocked.
While the lawsuit is between the distributors association and the PLCB, officials with Sheetz said the chain, and its customers, have an interest in the ruling. Mike Cortez, Sheetz vice president and general counsel, said it is an issue concerning customer service and convenience. The reason we're happy is because this has always been for us a matter of convenience for our customers, Cortez told The Patriot-News. We're happy to have the opportunity to make that argument for our customers.
Hoffman said the association, too, welcomes the chance to argue the case.
The public has an interest in whether beer is or is not sold in that setting, he said, according to the report.
And PLCB Chairman P.J. Stapleton issued a statement on the state Supreme Court's decision to hear the PLCB's appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision that would require holders of eating place malt beverage licenses to sell malt or brewed beverages for on-premises, as well as off-premises, consumption:
The [PLCB] is grateful that the Supreme Court has decided to hear this appeal. The board continues to believe that the liquor code grants licensees a right to sell alcohol but does not impose a duty on licensees to sell alcohol. If allowed to stand, Commonwealth Court's decision could compromise the board's longstanding mission of controlling the sale of alcohol in Pennsylvania by imposing new duties on thousands of holders of eating place malt beverage and restaurant licenses in Pennsylvania. If allowed to stand, Commonwealth Court's decision could also subject these licensees, who have operated under the [P]LCB's historical interpretation of the liquor code, to citation for failure to follow the court's interpretation. We look forward to making our case before the Supreme Court and believe that we will prevail.
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