Tacoma Has Washington's Most Expensive Liquor Store

Tacoma has the most expensive liquor store in Washington State. That’s according to the results of the bidding process that transitions the rights for liquor stores from the Washington State Liquor Control Board to private ownership. That bidding process closed on April 20.

According to an article in the Daily Index, the liquor store location at South 72nd and Pacific in Tacoma took the honor of receiving the highest bid as a part of that process, bringing $750,100. That’s significantly more than the lowest winning bid for a location in Spokane, which came in at $49,600. Overall, according to the Index, the WSLCB brought in $30.75 million from the sale of all of its stores. That included a flurry of last minute bidding that pushed the end time for the auction out two hours past its intended close. The prices paid by bidders will only give them the rights to operate liquor stores in the locations bid on; they will still have to negotiate leases with the property owners.

Washington State has run liquor stores since the end of Prohibition, and opponents have argued that the changes currently underway are not an improvement for a variety of reasons. One of the challenges still has a court date in May, so we could see all of this become a moot point. If not, the stores will change hands in June, and by the Fourth of July you could be buying your liquor from a private business owner.

Read more, including some details on the challenge still in the works previously from Exit133: Liquor for Sale – Who’s Buying?.

Read the story from the Tacoma Daily Index.