Washington One Year After Privatization

Dear Client: This Saturday will mark one year since Washington state officially pulled out of the liquor business. In honor of the state's one year anniversary of private alcohol sales, we'll take a look at how the system has changed with some input from executives directly involved with the transition. Before the switch there were only 329 state-run, or contract stores permitted to sell alcohol. Now there are more than 1,400 retailers. The state sold about 2.5 million liters a