11 more Wash. liquor stores to close

Published 5:00 am Sunday, May 20, 2012

The state will close 11 additional liquor sales outlets Tuesday as staffing shortages cut the workforce able to operate the state’s network of liquor stores. The closures include two in Seattle and one in Bremerton, and none in Tacoma or Olympia.

The state’s liquor control board said it will reshuffle its available workforce to provide full staffing at the remaining stores until May 31, when the state will close all of its stores for good.

Voters’ approval of Initiative 1183 last year ended the state’s monopoly in liquor sales. Under that initiative, the state’s liquor sales and distribution system will be fully privatized June 1.

The board said that in selecting stores to close early, it picked outlets with other liquor stores in a reasonable proximity.

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