Lucky's Market

[Sunshine State Sue]

Kind of a spin-off of the "Cocktails" thread...

With great fanfare, a Lucky's Market opened near me.  Supposedly, Lucky's is like a cross between Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  Organic + conventional produce, bulk bins, "all natural" items, etc.

They also have a cafe where you can get coffee, tea, kombucha, pizza, beer wine.  You can pick up a cup holder for your cart and drink as you shop.  No one stops you from leaving the store with your alcoholic drink.  What do you think of this?  It makes me uncomfortable, but that's because I am a rare drinker, child of an alcoholic.  I wonder if Bed Bath & Beyond or Sports Authority or JC Penny's will be next in line...

Is this common in the US?  In other countries?

[regentrude]

I don't find it much weirder than people carrying coffee and soft drink cups while shopping. That seems to be an American thing; I have not observed in Germany that grown up people need to drink from portable cups while doing other things (I bet, like any other US custom, this is crossing the Atlantic as well). OTOH, nobody stops you from walking with a beer in your hand out of a convenience store either. Nor should they, if you're of age and not driving.

Edited August 14, 2018 by regentrude

[marbel]

It seems odd to me but I am not used to it and I live in a state where purchasing alcohol is pretty heavily restricted.  I don't mind seeing people drinking coffee, etc., while they shop.  Shoot, plenty of moms I know see their trip to the grocery store as their break from the family, why not enjoy a mocha while they shop?  But a cocktail? (ETA I know you only said wine or beer.) I don't know, that seems to me to be crossing a line though I have no specific reason why.

What are open container laws like where you are?  I've lived in 3 states as an adult, and people couldn't leave a store/bar/restaurant with a to-go cup of alcohol to sip on the drive home. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by marbel

[marbel]

I was curious so I looked it up. Here is an article about the store from the Ft Lauderdale Daily.  It looks a little like Wegman's.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

I don't see of their stores in our state so I can't speak to their store specifically.  But the only alcoholic beverages you mentioned were beer or wine.  And there is absolutely nothing to stop someone from buying a can of beer or a bottle of wine at any store (grocery stores here sell alcohol) and drinking it once you've paid for it.  But. . . we do have open container laws that would be enforced if someone were pulled over for erratic driving of any kind. 

[JIN MOUSA]

I grew up in Texas, and open container laws are a thing there, so I think it would be off to see someone walking out of a store with an open container of alcohol there. I live in the St. Louis area now, and open containers in moving vehicles is not a big deal (my local friends tell me it's due to the influence of Anheuser-Busch, but I don't know how true that is). However, our Lucky's here does have a sign on their door about no open alcohol containers allowed out the door. I would think it's a liability issue?

[regentrude]

I found open container laws very strange when I first moved to the US. But then, I  come from the country of beer gardens.

[unsinkable]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

I don't find it much weirder than people carrying coffee and soft drink cups while shopping. That seems to be an American thing; I have not observed in Germany that grown up people need to drink from portable cups while doing other things (I bet, like any other US custom, this is crossing the Atlantic as well). OTOH, nobody stops you from walking with a beer in your hand out of a convenience store either. Nor should they, if you're of age and not driving.

What are you talking about?

You think that you can crack open a beer in a convenience store, start drinking it and walk out in public, continuing to drink it? 

You might want to check local laws (here in the United States) before you try this little stunt.

[Sunshine State Sue]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

What are open container laws like where you are?

If I am reading them right, basically open containers are forbidden in vehicles.  So, I guess when they are done wandering around Lucky's, they can move on to PetsMart and Sports Authority and the rest of the attached mall...

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, unsinkable said:

What are you talking about?

You think that you can crack open a beer in a convenience store, start drinking it and walk out in public, continuing to drink it? 

You might want to check local laws (here in the United States) before you try this little stunt.

Please read what I wrote. I didn't claim there was no law; I wrote "nobody stops you". I bet the store owner is not going to stop you as you walk out with your beer.

 

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, happysmileylady said:

Well, as I understand most open container laws, and as I understand the concept of a "beer garden, "  Open container laws aren't generally incomparable with beer gardens.  Most open open container laws, as I understand them, would consider a beer garden the sort of establishment that was exempt from such a law, similar to the patio of a restaurant, music festival, street fair, etc.  

But I am talking about the cultural differences in a society that does not have that many rules about alcohol. You can drink not just in the beer garden, but can take your bottle to the park and drink it there.  You are not restricted to an "establishment". There are very few municipalities that have ordinances against public consumption of alcoholic beverages, and several that lost in court and had to withdraw it. We also don't have a drinking age.

Edited August 14, 2018 by regentrude

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, Sue in St Pete said:

If I am reading them right, basically open containers are forbidden in vehicles.  So, I guess when they are done wandering around Lucky's, they can move on to PetsMart and Sports Authority and the rest of the attached mall...

Aren't most open container laws are about vehicles and public property? A mall is private property. Can a city or state can make a law that prohibits alcohol possession on privately owned property?

[unsinkable]

19 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Please read what I wrote. I didn't claim there was no law; I wrote "nobody stops you". I bet the store owner is not going to stop you as you walk out with your beer.

 

I DID read what you wrote. Let's review:

"OTOH, nobodystops you from walking with a beer in your hand out of a convenience store either. Nor should they, if you're of age and not driving."

In some locales, you are BR EAKING THE LAW. And you think it is fine!?! That no one SHOULD stop you?

I would hope they'd call the police! 

Anyone who lives where there is a law against having open containers of alcohol and walks around with one anyway...that is actually frightening that you'd even post that and advocate for it.

Edited August 14, 2018 by unsinkable
Missed a word

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, unsinkable said:

I DID read what you wrote. Let's review:"OTOH, nobodystops you from walking with a beer in your hand out of a convenience store either. Nor should they, if you're of age and not driving."

In some locales, you are BR EAKING THE LAW. And you think it is fine!?! That no one SHOULD stop you?

I would hope they'd call the police! 

Anyone who lives where there is a law against having open containers of alcohol and walks around with one anyway...that is actually frightening that you'd even post that and advocate for it.

I meant that there should not be such a law. 

ETA: As I explained in the other post: cultural differences. I think the rules surrounding alcohol in this country are bizarre and ineffective.

2nd ETA: We have law enforcement officials to enforce laws. It is not up to private citizens to enforce laws when the unlawful action poses no danger to anybody. I would also like to clarify that I absolutely would intervene if somebody got into a car as a driver while intoxicated - that poses danger and needs to be stopped by any bystander. But a harmless person having a beer on the sidewalk I have no business interfering with, since I am not a cop.

Edited August 14, 2018 by regentrude

[Liz CA]

Aside from the alcohol debate, this must be a different store than the Lucky grocery store we had in the late 80s and early 90s. It was bought out by Albertson's and then went completely south. It was called Lucky's, carried groceries and alcohol but organic was not as wide-spread as it is today. Is this a resurrection of an old chain?

Edited August 14, 2018 by Liz CA

[lavender's green]

The state where I went to college had open container laws that forbade you from being on public property with a drink in hand. I hung out with a lot of libertarian types, so we went over this ad nauseum at every party. You could be in a yard with a drink, but if you stepped on the sidewalk, you were breaking the law. The rowdier people got a big kick out of jumping over the sidewalk to the little patch of yard on the other side, where an open container was also legal. ?

Anyway, because of that, I think it's weird to drink on public property (as in, leave the store with a drink), though I don't know my state's laws about it. I don't have a problem with people drinking in a grocery store, but for me a grocery store, even a nice one, is a get-in-get-out place, not a place to stop for drinks.

[Sunshine State Sue]

1 hour ago, Liz CA said:

Aside from the alcohol debate, this must be a different store than the Lucky grocery store we had in the late 80s and early 90s. It was bought out by Albertson's and then went completely south. It was called Lucky's, carried groceries and alcohol but organic was not as wide-spread as it is today. Is this a resurrection of an old chain?

I don't think so.

Quote

The Lucky's Market chain was started by a husband-and-wife chef team in Colorado who wanted to open a grocery store designed for food lovers like themselves.

 

[unsinkable]

2 hours ago, regentrude said:

I meant that there should not be such a law. 

ETA: As I explained in the other post: cultural differences. I think the rules surrounding alcohol in this country are bizarre and ineffective.

2nd ETA: We have law enforcement officials to enforce laws. It is not up to private citizens to enforce laws when the unlawful action poses no danger to anybody. I would also like to clarify that I absolutely would intervene if somebody got into a car as a driver while intoxicated - that poses danger and needs to be stopped by any bystander. But a harmless person having a beer on the sidewalk I have no business interfering with, since I am not a cop.

Don't edit my posts without making it clear that you have done so.

Anyone who breaks the law by opening a beer in a convenience store and walks out in public drinking it (which was the example brought up BY YOU), has something serious going on, to blatantly flaunt it like that. It is a signal that this person is probably already drunk or looking for trouble or seriously disturbed or some special snowflake who thinks the law doesn't apply to him.

In a community where open containers are illegal, the LEAST an officer would do upon seeing that is make the person dump the drink.

 

[hjffkj]

13 minutes ago, unsinkable said:

Don't edit my posts without making it clear that you have done so.

Anyone who breaks the law by opening a beer in a convenience store and walks out in public drinking it (which was the example brought up BY YOU), has something serious going on, to blatantly flaunt it like that. It is a signal that this person is probably already drunk or looking for trouble or seriously disturbed or some special snowflake who thinks the law doesn't apply to him.

In a community where open containers are illegal, the LEAST an officer would do upon seeing that is make the person dump the drink.

 

Or they just don't think it is a big deal and think the risk is minimal enough too still do it. Well at least this supposed special snowflake feels that way. There are plenty of ridiculous laws that probably need to be reconsidered and until they are MANY people are going to ignore them and just take the risk. 

[hjffkj]

As an aside, in my state you can drink in a car as long as you aren't the driver

[Sk8ermaiden]

I do believe more store owners would stop them. At least in my state, the alcoholic beverage commission is no joke and there are serious consequences for breaking the laws, allowing them to be broken, or even if they are broken under your watch and you should have noticed but didn't. I can't imagine a convenience store owner allowing you to open a beer in the store. They could lose their license to sell alcohol. 

[unsinkable]

28 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Or they just don't think it is a big deal and think the risk is minimal enough too still do it. Well at least this supposed special snowflake feels that way. There are plenty of ridiculous laws that probably need to be reconsidered and until they are MANY people are going to ignore them and just take the risk. 

So you're saying that you'd open a beer in a convenient store and start drinking it even though it was against the law? Bc you think it is a ridiculous law?

Drinking in public means that much to you?

[hjffkj]

20 minutes ago, unsinkable said:

So you're saying that you'd open a beer in a convenient store and start drinking it even though it was against the law? Bc you think it is a ridiculous law?

Drinking in public means that much to you?

No, I probably wouldn't do that because they don't sell alcohol in convenience stores in my state. But I have drank in public where it was illegal. Drinking in public means very little to me but so does the law against it. So, I don't go out of my way to obey it. For example, last weekend at the beach dh poured me a drink in the hotel room right before we were supposed to head out somewhere. He lost track of time. So I took the drink with me, walked through the hotel, and finished while we walk on the boardwalk to our destination. That isn't something I normally do but it wasn't something I thought not to do that day.

[unsinkable]

17 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

No, I probably wouldn't do that because they don't sell alcohol in convenience stores in my state. But I have drank in public where it was illegal. Drinking in public means very little to me but so does the law against it. So, I don't go out of my way to obey it. For example, last weekend at the beach dh poured me a drink in the hotel room right before we were supposed to head out somewhere. He lost track of time. So I took the drink with me, walked through the hotel, and finished while we walk on the boardwalk to our destination. That isn't something I normally do but it wasn't something I thought not to do that day.

The example put forth by regentrude was the convenience store one. That is what I was writing about, not any other example of breaking open container laws.