HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's highest court on Friday upheld beer sales at in-store restaurants run by the Wegmans supermarket chain, dealing a setback to beer distributors seeking to preserve their dominance of the takeout market.
In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court sustained a Commonwealth Court decision upholding the granting of liquor licenses to five of the restaurants that Wegmans operates at all 14 of its Pennsylvania stores. The stores are in Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, State College, Bethlehem and Easton.
The Malt Beverage Distributors Association, which sued Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc. and the state Liquor Control Board, challenged the legality of enabling the sale of beer through cafes attached by an interior passageway to their grocery stores.
The justices said the Wegmans restaurants were in place before the company applied for the liquor licenses, are "vastly larger and more sophisticated" than the minimum requirements for restaurants and "easily satisfy" all other legal and regulatory requirements.
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