Are the supermarkets killing community pubs with irresponsibly cheap beer,...

[Ben c]

...wines and spirits? Should the government be doing more to help pubs providing sensible social drinking places and stamp out the dens of binge drinking that are supermarkets?

[°???°]

No, just as grocery stores aren't killing community restaurants.

[Colonel]

Depends on how you look at it. I spend more money on alcohol at pubs and restaurants because I'm usually out with my friends. You are correct though that the cost of a 6 pack at the grocery compared to a pub or restaurant is greatly different. Remember this, the supermarket's profit does not primarily depend on the sale of alcohol, so they can take a loss in alcohol sales knowing they will make up for it with sales of another kind. However, pubs are known for one thing, and that is alcohol. I think people know they are spending more at a pub compared to buying and drinking alcohol from the grocery.

My opinion is no, the Government should not intervene. This would be like telling Wal-Mart or Meijer that cannot sell generic prescription medications for only $3 or $4. Besides, I've never heard of a grocery stores alcohol prices making business difficult on pubs and restaurants. If there is something that IS hurting the pubs, it would have to be all these silly smoking bans (FYI, I'm not a smoker and I think some of the rules are a little silly)

[Ollie]

Pubs should bring prices down also with the smoking ban coming into force its driving more people to stay at home.

[deadman]

I think time would be better spent looking at why so many people drink to excess on a regular basis, maybe if they had some hope in their lives they wouldn't be drowining their sorrows.

why does it always have to be about money and what things cost? their is so much more to life.

[Robin the Electrocuted]

Don't know about you but I can't remember the last time I went down to my local tescos for a big night out on the slosh...!

Supermarkets are providing alcohol in a completely different way to pubs and clubs so no, I think you are wrong.

[Gecko]

You are confusing 2 different issues together, 1 being that people buy alcohol in supermarkets and no longer go to pubs and 2 binge drinking.

These are 2 different markets. The drink costs more in the pub because you are paying not just for the drink but for sitting in the pub in a social atmosphere, meeting people, listening to music etc...

But people also buy alcohol in the supermarket to drink it at home / barbecue etc... so it is cheaper and the relationship between the seller and customer is different.

One way of reducing binge drinking is increasing the price of alcohol (through taxes). It is irrelevant where the alcohol is bought. There are also many other ways of tackling this problem.

[Johnisrox]

Try **** no! Visiting a community pub is a social event, buying cheap liquor from the supermarket for consumption at home or at a bbq etc etc is perfectly fine. Why would you spend more to buy drinks at the pub that you're not drinking at the pub? You'd just be paying extra for the pubs overheads which you're not even using, the pub's not a charity so unless your pub is run by the Salvation Army then you shouldn't feel bad about buying from the supermarket!

[blue1]

i suppose so but there will always be a few who will binge anyway.

[eflatsharp]

No - quite the opposite because all the p-heads can get their beer in the supermarket instead of making the pub smelly and dirty.