RICHMOND — Virginia distillers ?may soon be toasting the General Assembly after the Senate passed a bill to let liquor manufacturers keep more of the money from selling their spirits in tasting rooms.
Currently, distilleries must sell their bottles to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, then buy them back at full retail price before pouring samples inside their tasting rooms. The markup averages 69 percent and can be as high as 93 percent, according to ABC.
But distilleries could keep the price markup under Senate Bill 803, introduced by Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Fredericksburg. The Senate voted 23-16 in favor of the measure Friday. It is now before the House Appropriations Committee.
ABC currently takes about 55 percent of the gross revenues that distilleries make in their tasting rooms, said Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company in the Loudoun County town of Purcellville. After overhead and worker pay, he said, most Virginia distilleries lose money on such operations.
Distilleries are a growing enterprise in Virginia, which considers itself the birthplace of American spirits. After serving two terms as president, George Washington returned to Mount Vernon to brew his own whiskey.
The industry does more than $160 million a year in business in terms of creating jobs, buying agricultural products and selling spirits, according to the Virginia Distillers Association.
Still, that’s just a drop in the bucket compared with neighboring Kentucky. Distilleries there have an annual economic impact of $8.5 billion, the Kentucky Distillers Association says.
Kentucky is one of the country’s largest producers of distilled spirits and, unlike Virginia, the industry is not controlled by the state government. Harris said Virginia distilleries are hampered by a “punitive landscape.”
Curtis Coleburn, a lobbyist for the Virginia Distillers Association, said SB 803 could spur major growth in the commonwealth’s spirits industry.
“When the distilleries make a sale, half of the money goes to the state through taxes and profits because it’s managed through ABC,” Coleburn said. “Senate Bill 803 would allow the distillers to keep more of the proceeds for sales at the distillery stores and will enable them to hire more Virginians and expand their plans and grow the industry.”
Virginia distillers say they would like to make and sell their products on their premises at the cost of production. This would allow them to have profitable tasting rooms and generate tourism, said Amy Ciarametaro, executive director for the Virginia Distillers Association.
“We have to educate our legislators that, in order for the distilled spirits industry to really be a powerful economic generator for the commonwealth — and it can be — we’ve got to make these distillery stores profit generators for their operators,” Ciarametaro said.
Belle Isle Moonshine in Richmond does not have a store on premise, but co-founder and CEO Vince Riggi said reducing the regulations on tasting room sales would benefit all distillers in the commonwealth.
“We want to market Virginia spirits,” Riggi said. “We want to elevate the brand and showcase it to the consumers in the state.”
Bob’s Discount Furniture is hosting a grand opening celebration from Thursday, February 15 – Monday, February 19, 2018 in honor of its new store at 14500 Potomac Mill Road, Woodbridge, VA. This will be the third Bob’s Discount Furniture store in Virginia.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Thursday at 9:45 a.m. and special appearances by Washington Redskins Alumni, Gary Clark and Ravin Caldwell will take place on Monday.
Bob’s grand opening guests will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of family fun entertainment and free giveaways throughout the weekend, including a chance to win Washington Redskins season tickets. In addition, the Bob’s Outreach team is giving away 200 copies of the new book “The Bobs and Tweets” at each store opening celebration.
In conjunction with the grand openings, the Bob’s Outreach team is donating $10,000 to local children’s charities and over $90,000 to local children’s charities and schools in the nine new communities Bob’s is launching new stores in. The principal from Mary G. Porter Traditional School, will be receiving an outreach donation for $2,500 at the grand opening ceremony.
The full schedule is as follows:
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- Check presentation on Thursday, February 15 at 9:30 a.m.
- Ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, February 15 at 9:45 a.m.
- Family fun entertainment:
- Thursday and Friday, from 3 p.m. – 8 p.m.
- Saturday – Monday, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- WASH street team appearance on Friday, February 16 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Redskins Alumni appearance on Monday, February 19 from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
- Free giveaways – Washington Redskins season tickets, “Bobs and Tweets” books, T-Shirts, Ice Scrapes, and more throughout the long weekend
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About Bob’s Discount Furniture
Bob’s Discount Furniture provides a wide variety of quality furnishings – including living room furniture, bedroom furniture, dining room furniture, mattresses and home accents – at everyday low prices. The stores also offer a unique and enjoyable shopping experience featuring cafes in each store with free gourmet coffee, ice cream, cookies and candy. Since 1991, Bob’s has built strong customer loyalty by offering the highest-value home furnishings at the lowest possible prices. With 98 furniture stores located throughout New England, Delaware, California, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin, the Manchester, Conn.-based company has become the 12th-largest U.S. furniture chain and proudly holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Bob’s is committed to supporting communities where its stores are located through a variety of charitable giving efforts. Bob’s Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation has anchored the company’s philanthropic work for more than 20 years. In addition, the Bob’s Outreach program was created as a separate entity to help schools and children-related charities. The company donates more than $2.75 million to charities through these programs each year. For more information on Bob’s charitable programs, visit https://www.bobscares.org.
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