Yesterday, we stopped at a Trader Joe’s in Bethesda for some groceries and wine. All part of the lounge and sip plan. We were shocked to find not a single bottle of spirits, wine or beer. Why? We asked a clerk.
Maryland is one of only a handful of states that bans the sale of beer, wine, and spirits in grocery stores, chain retailers like Walmart and Target, and gas stations. The ban on beer and wine sales in grocery stores has been in place since 1978.
There’s also an added layer in Bethesda specifically: Montgomery County operates under a “control” model where the county itself runs the liquor stores — so you buy alcohol at county-operated stores, not private shops.
Fortunately there was one of those county run stores just down the street. Small selection but we managed to find an acceptable bottle of Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.
I remember this! And DC does sell beer and wine in grocery/chain stores/gas stations but no hard liquor. I didn’t know about the county-operated stores in Montgomery County, though, that’s interesting!
We are heading into Virginia tomorrow where you can buy wine and beer in grocery stores but not hard liquor. I’m guessing Prohibition had something to do with these odd laws. I’ll have to research that (and by research, I mean ask Claude or ChatGBT or Gemini 🤪)
When I first moved to Seattle in 1976 I went to the grocery store on a Sunday and there was no red meat but lots of chicken! The butcher’s union had gotten a law passed that you could not sell red meat on Sunday so the butchers did not have to work on Sunday. And no alcohol either, Washington had state liquor stores. Both restrictions were gone in a few years.
Meat ban on Sundays? That seems so bizarre. But then, there was a time when everything was closed on Sundays.