Trader Joe`s, which started in California as a convenience store that began selling wine, only opened its first store in Utah in 2012. The store`s founder, Joe Coulombe, said, “We built Trader Joe`s first on wine and then on food.” A cornerstone of his store`s sales is beer, wine and, in some cases, spirits. Due to Utah`s strict alcohol laws, alcoholic beverages were initially not available in Salt Lake City stores. Some theorize that Utah`s strict alcohol laws and the inevitable impact on the store`s margin were responsible for Trader Joe`s late entry into the Salt Lake City market. [36] Epic Brewery decided to expand into Colorado with a $2-3 million facility instead of Utah due to the ever-changing liquor laws in Utah. “Who knows. what things they`re going to come up with next to punish an industry that pays millions in taxes in this state,” Cole said. The reason, of course, is to ensure that no one under the age of 21 has access to alcohol. And businesses caught serving or selling to minors can face hefty fines and risk losing their state liquor licenses. Scott Beck, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake, says perception is Utah`s problem in attracting tourism, especially conventions. His company is suing businesses that are lost, and Beck says that`s a significant amount of lost revenue.
Scott says, “We`ve been told there aren`t enough restaurants and nightlife to keep visitors busy outside of the convention because they can`t have a drink. We call it nightlife, but we`re not talking about nightlife in terms of strip clubs and games; We`re talking about nightlife like Gracie`s or nightlife like The Bayou – places where visitors can network or socialize with friends and colleagues. But our alcohol laws create a feeling and, in some cases, a reality that you can`t do that in Utah. And we lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year in delegate expenses because of this perception. Unlike grocery stores, restaurants can apply for a licence to sell and serve spirits, wine, flavoured malt beverages and heavy beer (over 4.0%). Limited restaurant licences are not permitted to sell flavoured malted beverages or distilled spirits. And while the restaurant may be able to get a liquor license, they are limited to how and when they can serve alcohol. One of these restrictions is the “intention to dine” law; Guests must intend to dine in order to be served an alcoholic beverage.
