Apr 22, 2009 3 min read

When you’re a monopoly, you don’t have to worry about outworking, outsmarting or outmaneuvering competition. After all, there is no competition; that’s the nice thing about being a monopoly. Apparently, no one told the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Early last year, the PLCB signed a two-year contract worth up to $3.7 million with branding firm Landor Associates to improve the state stores’ layouts, advertising and public image. This week, word surfaced that PLCB CEO Joe Conti discussed with Gov. Ed Rendell the prospect of renaming the state’s 621 Wine and Spirits stores as part of that rebranding initiative.

Renaming the state stores would prove as costly as it is pointless. When you’re a monopoly, you don’t need to rename your stores to be more attractive; you’re the only game in town. This is not a move based on need: the PLCB has seen record-breaking profits for years. If anything, this seems like a very expensive vanity project.

And it will be expensive. Just replacing exterior store signage would cost several thousand dollars for each store. Even on the modest end of that estimate, multiplied by 621 stores, that’s approaching $1 million spent to put a new name on the front of the store. And that doesn’t begin to take into account the various other costs of renaming the stores.

Is this the best use of taxpayers’ money during an economic crisis? After all, what is the point of rebranding the stores under a different name? Will a new name-the laughable option of “Table Leaf” was reportedly under serious consideration-bring customers from other liquor stores into the state stores? Oh wait-the law doesn’t allow for any competitors.

This is a wasteful use of taxpayers’ money, plain and simple. And yes, it is taxpayers’ money. The PLCB will tell you it is a self-supporting agency that pays for its expenses out of sales revenues, not from state taxes. While this is true, the profits from the PLCB funnel back into the state treasury, so any questionable expenses are directly reducing the monies pouring into the state coffers.

If the name change goes through-a move that the governor opposes but the liquor control board CEO calls “likely”-the only way it won’t cost the taxpayers is if the PLCB passes the buck to state businesses. According to a media report, the PLCB is unsure who would foot the bill for new state store signs: the agency or the landlords who lease the stores to the state. In this scenario, the PLCB will be forcing substantial bills on the state store landlords for a pointless name change. Does the PLCB assume we’ll consider this is a preferable situation?

One way or another, this silly decision to rebrand the state stores will cost Pennsylvanians millions of dollars. Wasteful spending in good economic times is one thing, but to do so during the current gloom and doom is beyond irresponsible.

When it comes to wasteful spending, between the General Assembly and the PLCB, the Harrisburg area seems to have a monopoly.