Monopoly

To hear the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) talk, you'd think that they were completely transforming they way they do business.

For too long, this organization has been about us and what we want to accomplish as an agency, and we have lost sight of what matters most – our customers,” said Patrick “P.J.” Stapleton III, chairman of the Liquor Control Board. “Asking Pennsylvania wine experts from outside the agency to help us improve our wine programs is unprecedented. So this is a new day – a day when we put our customers first in every way.

Pennsylvania uses the PLCB as a way to monopolize liquor and wine. The PLCB runs over 600 stores statewide and has control over just about everything. They set the price on the shelf (which includes the 18% sales tax), determine what to sell, and how much of it to have; essentially, everything on the supply side of things.

In order to redefine themselves as more consumer-oriented, they are going to be implementing a more dynamic service plan. In addition, the PLCB wants to set up wine kiosks throughout the state. The problem is only one firm bid on the plan.

The PLCB will do anything to avoid relinquishing their central control over alcohol, and this in turn damages their ability to adapt to the demands of customers. Rather than look to privatize its sales or open the market up so individuals can pick the wine they actually want, the PLCB decided the best way to deal with consumer dissatisfaction is to open up little wine vending stands and provide expert recommendations for in-store wines. This is essentially a band-aid to a much bigger problem.

According to a recent editorial on the subject from the Patriot-News, the United States is the largest retail market in the world for wine. Thus, because Pennsylvania is one of the larger states, it provides an opportune market. Consumers have a devoted following to wine, but the PLCB cripples their ability to engage in such a hobby. They don't allow direct sales to consumers and their policies keep out-of-state wineries from participating in the market with their high licensing fees. This creates an extremely displeased consumer core and results in the loss of potential revenue for the state. The government was not meant to be a business.

Not only is the PLCB failing at what they do, but the strategy they are looking to implement to please customers is only going to further reveal the already existing problems with the system.