The craft beer section of the Wells Discount Liquor Store on York Road briefly became a media staging area Friday as half a dozen entrepreneurs from the beverage industry gathered to express their disappointment in remarks Governor Wes Moore made earlier this month.

“You’re not going to all of a sudden have 50,000 new people drinking. All this is doing is spreading the pie. And does it really need to be spread like that? I mean, seriously,” said JoAnn Hyatt, the owner of Wells Discount Liquor, during the busy hours of the Friday morning before Christmas.

Thanks to a 1978 law, Maryland grocers and convenience store owners are banned from selling alcohol with a few exceptions for businesses that were grandfathered-in when the law passed.

If Maryland were to allow big-box grocers to sell alcohol, Hyatt worries stores like hers could be driven out of business and that most of the profits would end up going out of state to the corporate ownership of places like Wal-Mart or Giant Food Stores.

“They will spend that money in their states where they're from. They're not going to spend that here in Maryland. It's not going to increase tax,” said Hyatt.

While Moore showed support for overturning the ban on beer and wine in groceries, which was first reported by Maryland Matters, he is not actually submitting legislation. Instead, he called on lawmakers to introduce a bill when the General Assembly starts its 2025 session on January 8th.

“We are the only of our neighboring states to ban the sale of either in grocery stores — resulting in less consumer choice and putting our stores at a disadvantage,” Moore said in a statement earlier this month. “Lifting this ban puts the consumers first, and ensures fair competition in the marketplace.”

The vendors gathered at the Wells store on Friday hope they can be part of that conversation before any legislation moves forward. They described being shocked and “disappointed” by the governor’s remarks because their industry associations were not previously informed.

“Obviously, our business plan and projections did not include Governor Moore's recent statement,” said Jed Janey, one of the nine worker-owners of the newly formed worker-cooperative at the Wine Source in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood. “So it's almost comical timing for us eight weeks in. But, you know, we're ready for what's around the corner.”

Previous similar attempts to allow food retailers to sell alcohol have failed, including a 2024 attempt.