SUNBURY — Two supermarkets in the Valley are expected to get vending machines that sell bottles of wine by the middle of 2010, pending a final agreement between the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and store management.
The Lewisburg Weis Market, at 6901 Westbranch Highway, in Kelly Township, Union County, and the Giant Superstore, in Monroe Marketplace, in Hummels Wharf, Snyder County, are the two local stores receiving machines by May or June, said PLCB spokesman Nicholas Hays on Wednesday.
“We’re doing this as part of our customer service program,” Hays added. “We want to better serve customers by offering a selection of about 50 of our most popular wines that they can buy at the supermarket.”
Statewide, 100 grocery stores will get kiosks.
The PLCB decided which stores got the vending machines.
“Earlier this year,” Hays said, “the board solicited proposals from stores. Then, we worked with the companies chosen, and if they were a chain, discussed which of their stores would most be receptive to this new concept.”
Some stores that sell beer, the Weis Markets store on North Fourth Street in Sunbury, for example, sell beer, but won’t get a wine kiosk. No reason was given for that decision.
The wine kiosks will carry up to 500 bottles of wine at the 150-milliliter size.
Hays said the particular wines offered would depend upon what customers wanted.
“It would be consumer-driven, by the location of the store,” he said.
Hays explained how the kiosk would work.
Patrons will slide a driver’s license into the machine to prove they are 21 or older.
A camera tied into the Liquor Control Board’s central office ensures the person buying the wine and the license photo match.
The buyer would also have to breathe into a device — a pad — that would measure blood-alcohol level. A reading of 0.05 or higher cancels a sale.
If a driver’s license doesn’t match the buyer, the transaction will also end.
Hays said the machine will not accept cash. It will accept a valid credit or debit card.
The entire process still has to be tested, he explained. A few stores in Harrisburg will get their kiosks early in 2010, enabling them to take trial runs.
The state’s liquor code says that the bottles cannot be opened at the kiosk. Individual stores, however, will be able to choose an area in the store where the bottle can be opened.
Dennis Curtin, the director of public relations for Weis Markets, noted that the Lewisburg store will soon have an in-store cafe and sell beer along with the wine.
“We’re in the business of giving our customers more choices and options,” he said Wednesday.
Curtin believes the wine kiosks are a natural extension of the company’s one-stop shopping convenience approach.
Besides the Lewisburg store, four other Pennsylvania Weis Markets will get kiosks.
Chris Brand, Giant’s community relations director, said his company was excited about having the kiosks in its stores. Thirty-three Giant Superstores in Pennsylvania will have kiosks.
“We feel it’s natural to pair good wine with good food,” he said.
All 12 of Wegman’s Pennsylvania outlets, including the store at 201 William St., Williamsport, will have kiosks.
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