Oregon Grocers Ponder Private-Label Booze

The Northwest Grocery Association tried in 2014 and 2016 to privatize the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, but neither effort got very far.

Shopping at Costco. (Wesley Lapointe)
By Nigel Jaquiss

In 2021, Oregon grocers are considering asking the Legislature to let them sell private-label hard liquor, as Costco does with its Kirkland brand in other states.

The Northwest Grocery Association tried in 2014 and 2016 to privatize the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, but neither effort got very far. Association members hoped to achieve in-store sales in Oregon as Washington grocers did with a 2011 privatization measure mostly paid for by Costco.

Dan Floyd, a spokesman for the grocers, says his group is talking with lawmakers about what might work. The OLCC and its allies in liquor distribution and local government are unlikely to support such a move.

The commission is separately seeking to build a new $65 million warehouse, and received an early Christmas gift from Gov. Kate Brown: a proposal to add 25 cents in taxes to the price of each bottle of hard spirits.

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