Total Wine and More to Stop Selling Below Minimum Price, Pay Fine

Maryland-based Total Wine and More agreed to stop selling alcohol below the minimum state price and pay a $37,500 fine.

Total Wine boldly proclaimed in newspaper ads that it would sell some products below the minimum price, according to the Hartford Courant. BevMax, another large chain also began selling below price.

The retailer sued the State of Connecticut in federal court with a claim that the state's minimum bottle pricing law violates federal anti-trust laws.

“Immediately upon learning that Total Wine & More was advertising and selling products below what is permitted by the State’s minimum price rules, DCP’s Liquor Control Division opened an investigation,” said Commissioner Jonathan Harris in a statement, according to multiple media reports. “I am pleased that, through the hard work of many people at DCP, we were able to resolve this issue swiftly, and I appreciate that Total Wine worked with us to come to an agreement.”

Connecticut is the only state with a minimum price law on alcohol, which is seen as a boon for smaller liquor stores and an inhibitor for larger stores looking to fully exercise the efficiency of large-scale purchasing.

Retailers are allowed to discount one item to 90 percent of the minimum price per month.

“Total Wine & More has been prevented from offering the best prices by an anti-competitive regime of statutes and regulations that intentionally promotes… price-fixing by Connecticut wholesalers of alcoholic beverages,” wrote attorneys for Total Wine & More in a civil complaint.

The minimum pricing rule is unique to Connecticut and results in up to 24 percent higher prices for identical products offered in different states, according to a study by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has pushed for a number of the adopted liquor law changes, including Sunday sales. A spokeswoman told the New Haven Register that Malloy supports an end to the minimum price law, which drives consumers to nearby states for cheaper prices.

Image via Ewan Munro/Flickr Commons