Total Wine & More Pleased With ALJ Decision Supporting Bloomington License

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Oct 21, 2014, 12:03 ET

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Total Wine & More, with two stores open in Minnesota and a third opening soon, is very pleased with the positive ruling by the State of Minnesota Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who concluded that Total Wine & More met the legal requirements to be granted a license to open a store in Bloomington, MN. It is anticipated the ALJ recommendation will be considered by the Bloomington City Council for formal action at its Council meeting on Monday, November 3^rd.

Since Total Wine first announced it was planning to open stores in Minnesota last year, various liquor interests, led by its lobbying organization, the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA), have waged an aggressive lobbying and misinformation campaign to try and block the licensing of Total Wine stores and restrict competition in cities where the company has applied for licenses. The cities of Roseville, Burnsville and Woodbury have all reviewed the same opposition arguments, but rejected them and granted licenses to Total Wine in order to provide more competition, lower prices and greater selection for consumers in their respective communities.

Due to the controversy, the City of Bloomington decided to have the State ALJ conduct the public hearing, review the documents and issue a recommendation the city. A full day hearing before the ALJ was conducted on September 10, 2014 where Total Wine, opponents and the public were all allowed to testify and submit documents.

"Obviously we are very pleased that the Administrative Law Judge, after hours of public testimony and reviewing thousands of pages of documents, concluded that Total Wine should be awarded a license to open a store in Bloomington," said Edward Cooper, Total Wine & More's Vice President for Public Affairs & Community Relations. "We have been getting emails and calls for months from Bloomington residents asking when our store would open. Our two stores that are now open in Minnesota are generating some of the highest sales in the country, which validates the fact the Twin Cities market has been over-priced and underserved for years. We are hopeful the Bloomington City Council will agree with the State ALJ and the three other cities in the Twin Cities who have reviewed but rejected the opponents' arguments in favor of giving consumers more options and better prices."

About Total Wine & More
Total Wine & More is America's largest independent retailer of fine wine, beer and spirits with 109 superstores in 16 states. A three-time national retailer of the year award winner, the company's vast selection of products, combined with low everyday prices and expertly trained wine associates, provides a unique shopping experience for the customer. Since opening its first store in 1991, Total Wine & More has been committed to being the premier wine, beer and spirits retailer in every community that it serves. For more information about Total Wine & More please visit www.totalwine.com.

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SOURCE Total Wine & More