State auctions off liquor stores to 121 bidders

In an online auction ending Friday night, 121 bidders won
the rights to apply for a retail liquor license at 167
state-run liquor stores.

The lowest winning bid was $49,600 for a store in Spokane
and the highest winning bid was $750,100 for a store at
72nd and Pacific in Tacoma.

The auction totaled $30.75 million.

“We generated a windfall of money for the state of
Washington. This money is unexpected or unanticipated
income for the state,” said Pat McLaughlin, director of
business enterprise for the Washington State Liquor
Control Board.

The board ran two auctions simultaneously. The first was
for individual stores and the second was for all locations
in one bid, which totaled only $4.6 million.

There were 551 bidders in the auction and 14,627 bids were
made. Twenty-eight people won more than one store while 93
people won a single store.

The auction was scheduled to close on Friday at 4pm, but
like other online auctions, if a bid was placed during the
final five minutes of the auction, the end time would
automatically extend for an extra five minutes. The
auction closed at 6:25pm.

The winning bidders must secure a lease with the
property’s landlord. If they fail, they can re-sell their
right or request an alternative location within a one-mile
radius. The names of the winning bidders have not been
released.

The state was required to hold a public auction for the
stores under Initiative 1183, which privatized the liquor
business.