Liquor Industry California

Liquor Barn, the California-based discount liquor chain, said Thursday it was closing 19 of its Southern California stores, including six in Orange County, and laying off 200 employees. The stores are profitable, executive vice president Lewis Silverberg said, but two things forced the move: First, lean economic times made it impossible for the chain to refinance some of its debt, and second, the leases on the buildings were worth more than the stores themselves.

Stack up a frosty mug of North Coast Brewing Co.'s Red Seal Ale against a mass-produced Budweiser, California's small brewers say, and any beer lover will conclude the better-known brand pales in comparison. But add a few freebies with that Bud--such as a flashy key chain with one of those cute Budweiser frogs--and now the little guys complain that the scales are dangerously tipped in favor of Big Brew.

Inscribed on a granite obelisk in the city of Temecula--along with famous names like military scout Kit Carson and Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California--is the name "Simon Levi," a commercial pioneer who founded a general store in the San Diego area in 1873. The Simon Levi Co. had grown by developing a liquor distributorship as solid as the Temecula memorial when Jay Jacobs, the great grandson of the founder, took the corporate reins 15 years ago.

It named no names, but the bill making its way through the California Legislature could not have been more specific. In fact, that turned out to be the problem. Tracking its path through the Capitol offers some insight into the curious way laws are made and tailored to benefit special interests and, in some cases, individuals.

Giving away free beer to bar patrons is illegal, a California appeals court has ruled, striking down a common promotional tactic by the nation's largest beer makers. The ruling effectively ends a popular practice by beer makers that purchase their own products in neighborhood bars and give them to patrons. The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said the marketing gimmick violated state rules prohibiting an alcohol licensee from plying consumers with free samples.

California's prestigious wine trade is nervous about a crackdown on long-ignored industry practices that include providing abundant free samples for formal tastings at wine shops. Suppliers have routinely--and illegally, in some cases--furnished ample quantities of wines to shop owners for tastings, and "the ABC has looked the other way," said Randy Kemner, owner of Wine Country, a Signal Hill retailer. No longer.

Several bills to combat widespread sales of alcohol to minors will come before the state Legislature next month. The most comprehensive was inspired by a Times investigation showing a pattern of lax penalties for merchants caught selling to minors, said its author, Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Kenwood Sonoma). Published in December, The Times computer analysis of Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records found that the average penalty for a retailer's first violation was a 9.

The ballot measure: Proposition 134, to increase taxes on beer, wine and distilled spirits. Whose ad: Californians for Nickel-a-Drink. The organization's first radio advertising campaign features two 60-second and one 30-second spot. The ads feature a conversation between a man and a woman. Elements of the ads, with an analysis by Times staff writer Virginia Ellis: Ad: "I read the alcohol tax initiative, like all those ads said . . . and they were wrong. There's no income tax in it.

Supporters of Proposition 134, an initiative that would hike taxes on beer, wine and liquor, announced Monday that they will seek an attorney general's investigation of threats by alcoholic beverage interests to cancel political advertising with broadcasters who give the proposal's promoters free time. "It's bullying. It's a violation of voters' rights in the most basic form," said Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento), an author of the proposal.

Alcoholic beverage giants like Miller, Jim Beam, Bacardi, Seagrams and Hiram Walker are pouring a lot more into California these days than cold beer, rum and bourbon. They are sending money. Big money. Since January, the nation's alcoholic beverage interests have been spending millions of dollars in the state to defeat what one industry leader calls the "single gravest threat to our industry since Prohibition."

Giving away free beer to bar patrons is illegal, a California appeals court has ruled, striking down a common promotional tactic by the nation's largest beer makers. The ruling effectively ends a popular practice by beer makers that purchase their own products in neighborhood bars and give them to patrons. The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said the marketing gimmick violated state rules prohibiting an alcohol licensee from plying consumers with free samples.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter asked her colleagues and area residents Thursday to protest plastic beer bottles being test-marketed in Los Angeles, charging they are not recyclable. In November, Miller Brewing Co. became the first major brewery in the country to sell beer in plastic bottles with its Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite and Icehouse products.

California's prestigious wine trade is nervous about a crackdown on long-ignored industry practices that include providing abundant free samples for formal tastings at wine shops. Suppliers have routinely--and illegally, in some cases--furnished ample quantities of wines to shop owners for tastings, and "the ABC has looked the other way," said Randy Kemner, owner of Wine Country, a Signal Hill retailer. No longer.

Several bills to combat widespread sales of alcohol to minors will come before the state Legislature next month. The most comprehensive was inspired by a Times investigation showing a pattern of lax penalties for merchants caught selling to minors, said its author, Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Kenwood Sonoma). Published in December, The Times computer analysis of Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records found that the average penalty for a retailer's first violation was a 9.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) joined local law enforcement officials Thursday in denouncing plans to lay off a majority of state liquor law enforcement agents this month, saying that fewer agents in Orange County would lead to lax oversight of liquor sales. Nearly three quarters of the investigators for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, including 10 of 13 in Orange County, are scheduled to be laid off as part of Gov. Pete Wilson's plan to close a $14.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) on Wednesday urged community activists to protest vigorously against state budget cuts blamed for the impending layoff of 75% of the investigators who monitor sales of alcoholic beverages. "We have to make a lot more noise or the governor's not going to get a message," said Katz, who with another legislator held a hearing near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to consider the impact of the cuts, which are set to go into effect Friday.

The ballot measure: The so-called nickel-a-drink initiative, sponsored by nonprofit public interest, law enforcement and mental health organizations. It would substantially increase taxes on beer, wine and liquor and earmark the additional revenue for a variety of programs designed to treat and cope with alcohol-related problems. It would hike the per-gallon tax on wine from a penny to $1.29; on beer from 4 cents to 57.5 cents and on distilled spirits from $2 to $8.40. Whose ad?

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) joined local law enforcement officials Thursday in denouncing plans to lay off a majority of state liquor law enforcement agents this month, saying that fewer agents in Orange County would lead to lax oversight of liquor sales. Nearly three quarters of the investigators for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, including 10 of 13 in Orange County, are scheduled to be laid off as part of Gov. Pete Wilson's plan to close a $14.

Law enforcement officials from across the state warned Thursday that the Wilson Administration's plan to lay off more than two-thirds of the state's liquor law enforcement officers will sharply curtail local police programs aimed at stopping the illegal sale of alcohol.

A growing legion of neighborhood activists and local politicians, fed up with the level of alcohol sales, is on the march, putting retailers on the defensive. In response to claims of a link between concentrations of alcohol sellers and crime and blight, local governments throughout the Southland are trying to make it difficult or impossible for new stores in certain areas to get permits to sell alcoholic beverages.