NC: Amazon adds on-demand alcohol delivery for Raleigh
By Kelly Kennedy
December 14, 2017
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — If you live in Raleigh and you’re craving a cold one, you don’t even need to get off your couch.
Amazon will now deliver beer and wine right to your door. It’s a part of their Amazon Prime Now service. Some small businesses in Raleigh will now have to deal with the powerhouse moving in on their turf, but most of them say, they’re ready.
Zach Medford owns Paddy O’Beers, a place where you can buy a six pack to go or sit down and have a beer. He calls it downtown Raleigh’s neighborhood bar.
“If you just wanna order a beer and have a random delivery guy bring you beer to your house that’s one thing, but if you want a real experience you’re gonna come out to a place like Paddy O’Beers where we have craft beer experts that will walk you through your purchase,” Medford said.
Just a few minutes away you have Seth Hoffman who owns the Raleigh Wine Store, but he wears many hats.
“Delivery boy, stock boy, everything,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman delivers wine door to door out of his personal vehicle.
“We want to show everybody around, but everybody has busy schedules and not everyone can make it down here, so, I’d rather you drink good wine, so if it’s gonna take us coming out to you to drink good wine, we’re happy to do it,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman says he doesn’t think Amazon is a serious threat for his business.
He said, “We don’t have our drone fleet quite yet but we’re working on that right now.”
Amazon Prime now promises to deliver wine and beer to your door in two hours free of cost and in one hour for a delivery fee.
Hoffman thinks he may be able to beat that time.
“I could try,” Hoffman said. “If I’m here I will jump in my car and run it out. I’ll do whatever it takes, if that’s what I have to do, that’s what I have to do.”
CBS North Carolina talked to officials from the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, who said that Amazon has to abide by the same laws as everyone else and must have a retail permit to sell alcohol. They also say any beer and wine delivery service must have a brick and mortar store for the deliveries to come and go from. Amazon officials say Prime Now is adding beer and wine to its own inventory in Raleigh.