The convenience and affordability of being able to buy just a six-pack as opposed to an entire case was New Jersey's upper hand for years. Now it could go away.
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Corbett's plan, which he envisions will create an additional $1 billion in revenue over a period of several years, will also allow for beer to be sold in smaller quantities.
Since Pennsylvania state liquor laws only allow for state distributors to sell beer by the case, Nick's is one of the closest places for neighboring Pennsylvania residents to pick up an ordinary six-pack. For some of those customers, it's a routine stop on their way home from work in New Jersey.
That could all change soon for owner Nick Cerbone and other New Jersey liquor store owners operating near the Pennsylvania border. On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced a bold new plan to replace state-owned liquor stores with twice as many privately-owned stores and expand the sale of beer and wine to convenience stores, supermarkets and pharmacies.
Corbett's plan, which he envisions will create an additional $1 billion in revenue over several years, will also allow for beer to be sold in a variety of smaller quantities with an updated license. Though completing the privatization process across the state could take as many as four years, state-owned stores could begin closing within six months.
For Cerbone, that could mean losing the average six-pack customer from Pennsylvania.
"If there's a place right across the river, they're going to go there," Cerbone said.
An upper hand lowered
Among other concerns, Cerbone said beer companies tend to sell their product for less in Pennsylvania than New Jersey.
The convenience and affordability of being able to buy just a six-pack as opposed to an entire case was New Jersey's upper hand for years. It now may be lost, especially if Pennsylvania stores can sell a six-pack cheaper.
Paul Santelle, president of the New Jersey Liquor Store Alliance, said it's too early to say how New Jersey stores will be affected by the change in Pennsylvania's liquor laws but that Cerbone's concerns are legitimate.
"That retailer has a genuine point," Santelle said. "It will affect his business. Regardless of which model is adopted (in Pennsylvania), it will mark the end of an era, at least on the Jersey side."
'That's called business'
In Alexandria Township at the Wine Hut, a fully-stocked liquor store roughly midway between the river communities of Frenchtown and Milford, owner Anthony Correra said he should be fine as long as big-box stores don't start propping up along the Delaware's banks.
Customers from both Pennsylvania and New Jersey come to his shop for its wide selection and expert touch, something that adding a couple six-packs and a few bottles of wine to a convenience store can't match, Correra said.
Still, Correra said, he's ready to adapt if need be.
"Could it affect you? Yeah, of course," Correra said. "But that means more competition and I got to do the right things. That's called business."
Patricia Kobble, who owns Free Bridge Wine & Spirits in Phillipsburg's Union Square -- right next to the Easton-Phillipsburg free bridge, said she already faces competition from big-box stores in the Phillipsburg area. Potentially adding retailers on the Easton side of the bridge isn't her greatest concern.
"What's the difference?" Kobble asked.
By offering a wide selection of craft beers and specialty liquors, Kobble, like Correra, hopes that Pennsylvania customers will continue to come to her store for the product rather than the convenience.
"I hope that people see that and buy their beer here," Kobble said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.