SD: SD Bill Would Allow Stores To Deliver Alcohol
By Casey Wonnenberg
February 6, 2019
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow you to order alcohol online or by phone and have it delivered to your house.
However, some liquor stores are actually opposed to the bill.
As the owner of Booze Boys, Robert Wentz is always trying to find new ways to boost business.
“We’re an independent, stand-alone store, one of the few left in the state,” Wentz said.
Wentz is not raising a glass to House Bill 1158. If it’s passed, you could order alcohol online or by phone and have it delivered to your house.
“This helps anybody who is not a small business owner. This is only for big box stores. They’re already delivering groceries. They’re already delivering food. They’re delivering everything. A small business owner can’t absorb the cost of a delivery,” Wentz said.
The bill only allows a business to deliver in the city it’s licensed in.
“The person making the purchase must sign for it and provide their driver’s license,” South Dakota Representative Tim Rounds said.
Rounds is one of the bill’s sponsors.
“It keeps people from actually getting in their car at 11 at night and making that drive across town after they’ve been drinking,” Rounds said.
However, Wentz claims it would not be affordable for a liquor store to deliver small amounts of alcohol in the middle of the night, and grocery stores that do offer delivery don’t make quick trips at that time either.
“There are a lot of gray areas to this whole bill,” Wentz said.
Wentz points out that without someone physically coming into a store, you can’t gauge how intoxicated a person is before the sale.
“Why are we making it more accessible,” Wentz said.
Which is why not everyone is in good spirits about possible alcohol delivery.
KELOLAND News contacted Hy-Vee about the bill. A spokesperson says its lobbyists are closely watching HB 1158, but that no one would comment on it at this time.