LIQUOR WHOLESALER WINS SUIT IN NY

Victory for liquor wholesalers in New York yesterday when Craig Allen, owner of All Star Wine & Spirits in Latham, lost a lawsuit against liquor wholesaler Service-Universal Distributors, Inc. over price fixing. Allen claims that wholesalers were not selling their products to all retailers at the same price, which is illegal under the State Liquor Authority. He also charges that a select group of retailers received gifts, trips and other benefits from wholesalers in exchange for carrying certain brands that other retailers were not getting.

It was a no-go, however, in the Court of Appeals. In an unsigned ruling, the judges in Albany voted unanimously in favor of Service-Universal Distributors. Since the State Liquor Authority and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer signed an agreement with major liquor wholesalers in September to end the practices to which Allen refers, the lawsuit no longer stands.

The court also said that Allen failed to prove in his lawsuit that consumers had been harmed by the pricing practices.