Normally I would agree that the oft-expressed bias against chains is kind of pointless. However, as far as I know Somerville has an extremely limited number of liquor licenses to give out, and there is a case to be made that the city should prioritize local businesses with roots in the community over national chains.
Now, ideally the number of liquor licenses in the city would not be capped, but as far as I know the state legislature controls the number of licenses available, not the city of Somerville. Given the artificial scarcity this creates, I do think that taking factors like ownership structure into account is perfectly legitimate. I think there are reasonable worries, for example, that a national franchisee might face constraints that limit the degree to which they can feature deserving local beers. In the absence of constraints on the number of licenses available in Somerville I don't think this would be a bad thing, particularly - there is plenty of competition for places to drink beer in Davis. But as far as I know there is a hard limit to the number of licenses the city can give out.
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Date: 2013-04-13 12:14 am (UTC)Now, ideally the number of liquor licenses in the city would not be capped, but as far as I know the state legislature controls the number of licenses available, not the city of Somerville. Given the artificial scarcity this creates, I do think that taking factors like ownership structure into account is perfectly legitimate. I think there are reasonable worries, for example, that a national franchisee might face constraints that limit the degree to which they can feature deserving local beers. In the absence of constraints on the number of licenses available in Somerville I don't think this would be a bad thing, particularly - there is plenty of competition for places to drink beer in Davis. But as far as I know there is a hard limit to the number of licenses the city can give out.