Jerry Ellig paid his own way to testify (in favor) at a hearing last December about wine in food stores. He is an expert on government regulation and helped draft the Federal Trade Commission’s opinion in support of direct shipment of wine.
Jerry was a recent guest on a recent Inside State and Local Policy podcast. The topic was wine in food stores and the impact on consumers.
Listen to the Inside State and Local podcast with Jerry Ellig
THREE WAYS CONSUMERS ARE HURT
Jerry outlined three ways the current system hurts consumers.
First, retailers who have government-sanctioned monopolies can charge higher prices.
Second, retailers have to charge higher prices when their stores are limited to few items as is the case in Tennessee.
And third, consumer pay a price when making a separate trip to the package store.
TESTIMONY FROM DECEMBER
Read Jerry’s testimony from last December. His research team found some interesting results when they studied the prices of wine at Northern Virginia stores. FYI, wine sales are legal in food stores in Virginia.
