photo by: The Associated Press

A customer looks over the beer selection at Crest Foods in Oklahoma City, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. On Monday, April 1, 2019, Kansas grocery stores can begin selling full-strength beer. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

As of Monday, employees at grocery stores across the state will be stocking shelves with a product they’ve never been allowed to sell before — full-strength beer.

Elsewhere, liquor stores will also begin to stock shelves with new nonalcoholic products, although some liquor store owners say the changes are a bit of a mixed bag.

On Monday, a law that was passed by the Kansas Legislature in 2017 will go into effect and allow grocers and convenience stores to sell beer with an alcohol content of up to 6 percent alcohol by volume, or ABV. Under previous law, they could only sell beer with up to 3.2 percent ABV.

“It can’t come soon enough,” said Sheila Lowrie, a spokeswoman for Dillons Food Stores, which has four stores in Lawrence.

Lowrie said nearly all of the Dillons stores in Kansas are adding additional refrigerated cases to increase the amount of beer available to customers. She said the assortment of beers for purchase could double or triple in some stores, with a focus on providing more local craft beers.

Dillons will be stocking beers from Lawrence’s own Free State Brewing Co., KC Bier, Walnut River Brewing Co. from El Dorado and several Wichita breweries, Lowrie said. The store will also include a “pick six” selection, allowing shoppers to make their own custom six-packs of beer.

“Now, in the state of Kansas, we have great beer, and a wonderful selection will be showcased at Dillons,” she said.

One grocery store that’s not part of a big chain is also getting in on the act, although staff said it’s not going to be ready on the first day.

Valerie Taylor, marketing manager at the Merc Co-op, said that the store has acquired the proper licensing to offer full-strength beer and plans to add a cooler with “a few feet” for beer.

“We’ll have a very small selection,” she said. “Like how we operate the rest of our store, we’ll certainly focus on local.”

A compromise and a long wait

It took about two years since the new law was passed for it to finally go into effect, but lobbying groups for grocery and convenience stores had been pushing for the changes for much longer than that.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Taylor said.

The general effort to get more alcohol in grocery and convenience stores goes back a couple of decades, Uncork Kansas lobbyist Jessica Lucas said in 2017. Her group advocated for sales of beer, wine and liquor in grocery stores — the full gamut of what liquor stores sell — but liquor stores said competing with grocery chains could put them out of business.

The state legislation was a compromise that allowed liquor stores to retain rights to wine and hard liquor and also allowed them to sell nonalcoholic products like mixers and glasses.

On The Rocks, a liquor store that sits right next to a Dillons store on Massachusetts Street, plans to beef up its nonalcoholic product selection, said Matt Easley, manager of the store.

Much like many liquor stores in Kansas, On The Rocks has had an “accessory” store — separated from the liquor side of the business — that sold drink-mixing products. But those side stores don’t get a lot of visibility and often aren’t staffed full-time. Those mixers and other items will now move into the liquor store proper, but Easley said he plans to expand the store’s offerings beyond just what the accessory store sells now.

“I think it’s going to evolve,” he said. “I think the offerings, because they will be able to be more visible, those items are going to expand as time goes by.”

photo by: Dylan Lysen

Shelves in On The Rocks liquor store, 1818 Massachusetts St., sit empty on Thursday, March 28, 2019, as the store waits until April 1 when it can begin to sell non-alcoholic products.

While he is not thrilled that a grocery store next door will be able to cut into his store’s market, Easley said liquor stores will still offer a much more diverse and extensive selection than any grocery or convenience store. Liquor stores will also have staff who are more knowledgeable about the products, he said.

“Certainly there will be more places for people to buy (beer), but we’re confident in our business model and how we treat customers,” he said.

Brian Davis, president for the Wichita-based Kansas Association of Beverage Retailers, said a compromise was ultimately needed because laws have also changed in Oklahoma and Colorado, which have both legalized full-strength beer and wine sales in grocery stores in recent years.

“That really, really pushed us to where we are at,” he said. “If we weren’t proactive, we were probably going to lose wine and beer. Wine is such a significant part of our business. If we lost wine, liquor would go with it.”

But Davis thinks the market may just evolve. While he has been selling liquor for decades, he believes younger store owners who are just joining the market will be able to adapt much faster than he has, he said.

Still, the change is not great for Kansas-owned liquor stores, he said. But it will definitely be a positive for consumers.

“Consumers are going to see a shift in pricing, and they are going to see more outlets selling beer up to 6 percent,” he said.

Lowrie said Dillons thinks it’s best for the consumer, too.

“Our customers are very excited,” Lowrie said. “We’ve waited a long time to be able offer full-strength beer and craft beers to our customers. We’re just as excited as they are.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report