MOORE, Okla. (KFOR) — A national big box liquor chain is appealing the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission’s decision to deny its application to open its first store in Oklahoma.
Total Wine and More is a national big box wine and spirits chain with 267 stores in 28 states, according to its website.
It describes itself as “the country‘s largest independent retailer of fine wine.”
Despite its large national presence, it has never had a store in Oklahoma.
But earlier this year, Total Wine attempted to change that.
A company called "Sooner Fine Wines, LLP" applied for a “Retail Spirits License” through the Oklahoma ABLE Commission last month.
Sooner Fine Wines, LLP indicated on its application it planned to open and operate a Total Wine and More store inside a former Bed Bath & Beyond location in Moore.
When it came time for the ABLE Commission to review Sooner Fine Wines, LLP’s application—they denied it.
“It was determined that they don't meet the constitutional requirements that would give them a license,” ABLE Commission Assistant Director Lori Cater told News 4.
Carter said Oklahoma’s constitution has a clause forbidding companies like Total Wine from opening up shop in Oklahoma.
“[Sooner Fine Wines, LLP] is organized as a limited liability partnership,” Carter said. “And it's our opinion that the state constitution prohibits limited liability partnerships from obtaining a liquor retail liquor license.”
Specifically, the Oklahoma constitution says “a retail spirits license shall only be issued to a sole proprietor” — meaning — an individual person — “who has been a resident of this state for at least five years.”
It goes on to say “a retail spirits license shall not be issued to a corporation, limited liability company or similar business.”
Carter says the ABLE commission is simply executing the law based on how it’s written right now, and Total Wine has the right to challenge it.
“Effectively, they are prohibited from engaging in any sale of alcoholic beverages until they get that license,” Carter said. “Could they appeal? Yes.”
In fact, she says Sooner Fine Wines, LLP has already filed an appeal with the ABLE Commission. The commission held a hearing for the appeal on Friday.
Ultimately, she says they did not take any action, and will continue the hearing to July 10.
She says if the ABLE Commission decides uphold its denial of the application, Sooner Fine Wines, LLP could appeal the decision further.
“Once our administrative proceedings are through, then, yes, they can pursue it through district court and ultimately all the way up to the Supreme Court,” Carter said.
She says Total Wine and More is no stranger to taking its fights to high courts.
“This company has already done that before,” Carter said. “They are the same ones that are involved in the Tennessee wine case from 2019.”
She said in that 2019 case, Total Wine and More challenged a provision in Tennessee’s constitution, which banned non-Tennessee residents from owning liquor stores.
Tennessee’s Supreme Court agreed with Total Wine, and ruled the provision was not legal.
“It basically invalidated residency requirements,” she said.
That’s why Carter says the ABLE commission did not even bother to deny Sooner Fine Wines, LLP’s application based on Oklahoma’s own residency requirement that still exists in our state’s constitution, but simply on the requirement surrounding LLPs.
She says if Total Wine chooses to take the issue to the courts, the ABLE commission will respect the outcome.
“We are just simply trying to enforce the law and what we think that the Constitution says,” Carter said. “So we're trying to be, you know, faithful to that and the Constitution and what it requires. We're just going to let an administrative law judge decide the issue and see where we go from there. It's not your job to decide if the law is legal or not.”
If a judge or court ultimately decides to uphold the ABLE Commission’s denial, Carter says the only likely way for Total Wine to open a store in Oklahoma would be for the state were to pass a constitutional amendment updating the language governing retail spirit licenses.
