Changes to liquor sales law put burglarized Tacoma bar in tough spot
Mar 14, 2012, 11:48 AM | Updated: 3:56 pm
The shelves above the bar at 1022 South are far emptier than this October 2011 photo, as bar owner Chris Keil looks to replace the bulk of his inventory after a break-in on Friday. (Image courtesy Tentwentytwo South's Facebook page)
A Tacoma bar burglarized in the early morning of Friday,
March 9, lost nearly 40 to 50 bottles of liquor.
The recovery process for the bar’s owner has been tricky.
He’s trying to re-find unique liquor just as new
privatization regulations are set into action.
On March 1, the first part of the new voter-approved
liquor law went into effect; bars could start ordering
their products directly from distilleries and vendors, and
not from the state.
For Chris Keil, owner of 1022 South, the new laws pose
some problems. While he will be able to replenish
the
bulk of his stolen inventory, curated bottles have been
harder to find.
Voters approved an initiative last fall to privatize
liquor sales and dismantle Washington’s state-run liquor
system, which was formed in the 1930s in the aftermath of
Prohibition.
“We’ve been open for three year at the end of this month
[March] – and it’s taken me three years to track
down some of these bottles,” said Keil.
Ordering from new vendors means that Keil isn’t sure where
to find some products. It was a problem he knew he would
run into eventually once the bottles had been sold.
That process has been fast-tracked as he hunts for the
bottles to replace the bars’ unique collection.
Meanwhile, bartenders are forced to get
innovative. They matched similar flavor profiles or
spirits that “behaved the same way” in drinks and then
walked guests through the changes of their creative
cocktail.
The break-in certainly hasn’t prevented customers from
frequenting the popular bar, said Keil. “The community
support has been amazing, not just from in town, but
Seattle as well; it has been overwhelming.”
