Liquor store location? Don't check for any ads

Having trouble finding a state liquor store? You're not alone, state officials say.

With the holidays quickly approaching, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has been fielding an increasing number of calls from people wondering where they can buy alcohol for their Christmas and New Year's celebrations.

Many of them have checked the phone book but have been unable to find listings for the state-run liquor stores, said Dennis Kellen, DABC's director of operations.

That's because information about state liquor stores isn't listed in the yellow pages. People seeking that information must look in the blue-tabbed government listings in the white pages.

"It's stupid," said Larry Lunt, DABC commission chairman, during a meeting Wednesday. "We fixed it because it's a stupid thing for the public not to know where the liquor stores are."

At the instruction of the commission, DABC staff members are exploring ways to make state liquor stores' addresses, phone numbers and hours of operation more available to the public.

State statute prohibits the department from advertising the sale of alcohol, which heretofore has kept the state liquor stores out of the yellow pages.

"The yellow pages, by definition, is advertising," commissioner Nicholas Hales said. "We're prohibited from advertising."

DABC staff and other commissioners say the issue isn't quite so clear. They say the department's goal is to better inform the public, not promote alcohol sales.

"To be able to find a liquor store is a reasonable accommodation," Lunt said. "People don't look in the blue pages for liquor stores. They shouldn't have to call this office to find out where a liquor store is."

Commissioner Mary Ann Mantes suggested that a notation be included at an appropriate place in the yellow pages to direct those seeking information on state liquor stores to the government section of the white pages.

State statute includes exceptions to the no- advertising mandate, such as allowing stores to have a sign in the window identifying them as state-authorized liquor outlets. But advertising in the yellow pages, Hales said, isn't one of those exceptions.

"I don't think the statute gives us the leniency to do that," he said.

The commission will revisit the issue next month.

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