Pennsylvania has just introduced it’s first wine vending machine. Apparently PA has liquor laws similar to MN which means you can’t just walk into a grocery store and buy booze. And certainly not on a Sunday. I don’t understand PA liquor laws any more than I understand MN laws but I do know that Wisconsin has greatly benefited from our archaic laws. I suspect that is the case for neighboring states of Pennsylvania too.

Until now. Now residents of PA can go to a kiosk in their grocery store, swipe their driver’s license, blow into a breath sensor and look into a camera and then choose a bottle of wine much like they might choose a pack of gum or Funyuns from their office vending machine. Of course, you won’t find these kinds of vending machines in the office, at least not yet.

Consumers seem to be happy about the vending machines but there are naysayers who suggest teens could easily purchase wine through the vending machine. Not so, all purchases are approved by a grocery store employee, thus the reason for looking in the camera.

We won’t be getting these awesome wine vending machines in Minnesota because they are way too convenient and our grocery stores can’t sell liquor unless they are a stand alone store. We have a few grocery stores with liquor stores attached but consumers must purchase their liquor separately from their food. I don’t know why. They will let you put your booze in the same bag however.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Swipe, Smile, Blow: Pa. Has Wine Vending Machines (abcnews.go.com)
• Wine vending machines launch in U.S. (cbc.ca)