Four independent Colorado liquor stores have sued the state, claiming that limits on the ownership of certain licenses aren’t being uniformly enforced and are unfairly — and illegally — benefitting those with hidden interests.
The liquor stores — Heritage Wine & Liquor in Centennial, Applejack Wine & Spirits in Wheat Ridge, and Bevy’s Liquor World in Littleton and Parker — filed suit in Denver District Court against the Liquor Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue, demanding an immediate injunction and nullification of licenses issued to a variety of companies that have investors with interests in more than the allowed number of licenses.
State officials said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
At issue are licenses known as Liquor Licensed Drug Stores, which are businesses that, for the most part, are retail stores that have a pharmacy component, such as King Soopers, Target and Costco.
After voters in 2022 approved the sale of wine and beer in grocery stores, the number of LLDS licenses that any one entity or person could own were expanded to eight. Meanwhile, the number of retail liquor licenses that a business or ownership group, typically independent and small operations, can hold is limited to three.