Directly from
http://www.abc.state.va.us/admin/aboutabc.html:
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With approximately 330 stores in convenient locations throughout the Commonwealth, ABC is dedicated to providing legal-aged adults with an enjoyable, modern shopping environment. ABC offers a wide selection of merchandise with more than 2,000 items on the regular Price List and an additional 250 items available through the Special Order Catalog...
As a major source of revenue for the Commonwealth, ABC has contributed more than $1.5 billion to Virginia's General Fund in the last five years, and more than $6 billion to the General Fund since the first ABC stores opened in 1934. Measures of success as ABC completed Fiscal Year 2009 include a record $665.6 million in annual gross sales. ABC remains committed to measuring our success in balancing control, service and revenue, and providing excellence and accountability to the citizens of Virginia.
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I don't see how selling 330 licenses will make the money they are talking about either...but if you look at it, the average is over 2 mil revenue per store (now I'm sure they dont all do equal business) so even at 1 mil a pop for a license, it could still be profitable.
I would think that if they allowed grocery stores to buy liquor licenses for 'spirits' the competition for the actual ABC stores would make them (ABC stores) un-profitable. Why am I going to make a special trip to a booze dealer when I can pick up a bottle of Beam at Safeway?
Interesting tho - you think that prices will still be 'fixed' by the state? I ask this because it could be really interesting to see how prices will vary by location...that bottle of Johnnie Walker blue label might cost more in McLean than it does in 7-Corners...