PLCB Wine Kiosks

Dear Retailers,

By now you have probably heard about the wine kiosks in the state of Pennsylvania that aim to provide a tad more convenience to wine consumers in a limited number of grocery stores.    If you haven't heard of them, sit back with a nice glass of wine and imagine this.  You provide your ID to a large vending machine, a camera operated by a live agent confirms that the ID is in fact you, a built in breathalyser ensures you aren't drunk, and after you sign and provide payment it dispenses a bottle of wine from a limited selection of 50 bottles.   Just recently, a few problems with these machines that this article outlines resulted in a temporary shut down of these kiosks during the holiday season.

Now that you've read more about them, we would love to know your opinion next time you call in.   We can't decide whether the we should think of the machines as absurd or at least a small progressive step towards a more reasonable wine policy in Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania has some of the strictest control over wine sales in the US with the largest state store system (the PLCB).   If the PLCB has decided that consumers do need more convenience or locations to purchase wine, why would they insist on developing and deploying a high tech vending machine manned by real people that offers only 50 bottles rather than offering off-premise licenses to retailers?  

We are all baffled and would love to see how this plays out.

Cheers,

True Fabrications
www.truefabrications.com