Over 400 varieties available for sale seven day a week
By Lauren Parker- Gill, News Editor, The Times
The Downingtown Wegmans Wine Shop officially opened for sales Friday morning.
DOWNINGTOWN – First beer, now wine – Wegmans in Downingtown is among the first of 200 grocery stores that is able to sell wine and they celebrated by popping the cork on a bottle of sparkling wine Friday with state representatives Harry Lewis (R-74) and Duane Milne (R-167).
When prohibition ended in 1933 Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot, who served from 1923-1927 and again from 1931-1935, said he wanted to create a system that would make alcohol sales as inconvenient as possible.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf changed that in June when the bill to sell wine in grocery stores came across his desk from the House of Representatives and he signed it less than a day later.
“It’s such a momentous occasion to get to this point…it’s a very critical first step.” Milne said.
“We’re bringing Pennsylvania into the 21st century,” said Jay Ostrich, legislative outreach coordinator with the House of Representatives.
Though there have been concerns that the Republican House of Representatives is working to phase out state stores completely, Lewis was quick to say that state store employees should not be concerned about losing their jobs in the near future.
“We got here to this point with wine so let’s work with this and see how this works out…it’s all a process,” Lewis stated. “We’re not taking anyone’s jobs.”
Wegmans in Mechanicsburg served as a test store for wine sales for the past month, with about 80 varieties of wine available, to make sure the system worked.
(L-R) Wegmans wine manager Michelle Nick, store manager Kurt Husebo and PA State Reps. Harry Lewis (R-74) and Duane Milne (R-167) were on hand to celebrate Wegmans’ wine shop opening Friday.
“Everything worked out great so now we’re rolling out with the rest of our stores in Pennsylvania.” Husebo stated.
Wegmans currently has 400 varieties available for purchase but plans to expand to over 800 by Thanksgiving for the holiday season. In addition to the large selection of wine, Wegmans also features wine from the following local wineries: Blue Ridge Winery and Vineyards, Galen Glen Winery Sorrenti’s Cherry Valley Vineyards, The Vineyard at Grandview, Broad Mountain Vineyard, Pinnacle Ridge Winery, Spring Gate Vineyard and Winery.
According to Wegmans’ wine manager Michelle Nick, state law restricts Wegmans and is only able to sell four 750 mL bottles per transaction. However, prices are the same as those of the state store and will follow that pricing to include sales.
Wine is now available for purchase from 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. Sunday.
