Minnesota Target Store Venturing Into the Liquor Business

Praise the Lord and pass the pink moscato! Target is selling booze in Minnesota! 

When I made out my grocery lists, many times what I needed was at a few different stores. Then Target started selling groceries, so then I mostly just shopped at Target. A few years ago, the idea of selling wine at the grocery store was being kicked around by the Minnesota Legislature, and I got really excited because I thought that was very convenient to be able to pick up a 12 pack or a bottle of wine as you're shopping for your weekend barbecue or your daily evening meal. Alas, it was defeated, so we still had to make two trips.

As it stands right now, there are a bunch of crazy laws governing where wine and spirits can and cannot be sold. For instance, in Minneapolis a liquor store can't set up shop within 300 feet of a church. In St. Paul, liquor stores can be in a residential neighborhood, but they cannot be within a half a mile of any other retail store.

The state of Minnesota also has a bunch of weird liquor store laws; including the statute that says any grocery store that has a liquor store attached to it must have a separate outside entrance and liquor cannot be sold in grocery stores. The alcohol removed wine can be sold, but actual real wine cannot.

The City of Otsego just approved a liquor license for the Target store that goes into effect July 1. Store officials say that nothing will be ready for sale until October. You've probably seen beer and alco-pop at some of the bigger Target stores because they have been selling 3.2 for a while, but this is their first foray into selling wine and other spirits in Minnesota. Target actually sells their own boxed wine already in other states that allow booze in grocery stores.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant move, and I hope it will kick the debate over wine in grocery stores back into high gear for the next session. Until then, I'll just have to keep making two trips.

What do you think?