The supersized Costco opening in northwest Auckland in a few weeks will feature groceries, furniture, glasses and hearing aids, car tyres, coffins, jars of Nutella the size of your head ... and almost anything you can think of.
Except for booze.
Choice (the Australian equivalent to Consumer magazine) noted that petrol and wine (including high-brow labels) are two of the areas where Costco offers steep discounts - at least, for those who've stumped up its $60 membership fee.
With its fuel station up and running, Gaspy already rates Costco the cheapest place to fill up in Auckland.
You do have to be a member (and note that Gaspy doesn't include the various loyalty scheme discounts that can apply to customers elsewhere). Still, the prices have been sufficiently keen for almost non-stop queues since it opened its 27 pumps.
Lack of credit card option doesn’t prevent nonstop queues pic.twitter.com/1pk8pAxu9r
— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) June 19, 2022
But while Costco might be the largest retailer of wine in the US, forget about picking up a six pack or bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from its first Kiwi store.
That's because the $100 million, 13,900sq m Costco in Westgate will fall within the swathe of West Auckland, where retail liquor sales (and most pubs) are controlled by the community-owned Waitakere and Portage Licensing Trusts (aka, "The Trusts").
If you want to buy alcohol when you're shopping, you must do so through a Trusts bottle store (or a franchised Liquorland that's managed by The Trusts, and maintains its model of slapping on $5 or so extra for many labels of wine, and simply not carrying many of the mid-range or cheaper options that feature in supermarkets and bottle stores elsewhere).
That's not news for locals, but could come as something of a surprise for those who come from other suburbs. (And those from the north, east and south are expected to cram Westgate carparks. In its report into supermarket competition, the Commerce Commission said, "Woolworths NZ [owner of Countdown] also told us that Costco is seen as a "destination shop" and that they have seen analysis from Australia suggesting that Costco stores have in-person catchment areas of approximately 25km.")
The West Auckland Licensing Trusts Action Group has lobbied against the Trusts' monopoly.
Last year, Trusts Action submitted 38,000 signatures - on the face of things, more than double the minimum required to force a referendum.
But in the final event, a Ministry of Justice-appointed scrutineer found it had fallen 934 signatures short due to duplicates (not spotted with a paper-based system), those who lived outside of Trusts areas, or those who could not be validated because they were not on the Electoral Roll (a substantial issue with younger signatories).
But now there's a fresh chance for Trusts Action to push for change.
The group has a slate of candidates in the Trust Board elections that will run in parallel with the council election.
At the 2019 local body elections, Trusts Action got one candidate elected to the Waitakere Licensing Trust (Andrew Flanagan) and one to the Portage Licensing Trust (ad man and sometime Herald contributor Ben Goodale).
This cycle, the independent non-profit group is standing six candidates.
And the arrival of Costco is one of its levers.
"Costco will be great for Aucklanders, providing some much-needed competition for the supermarket duopoly," Trusts Action spokesman and Te Atatū Ward candidate Nick Smale said.
"It's a shame they can't do the same for alcohol, and it highlights how arbitrary and ridiculous the monopoly has become," Smale said.
"Anywhere else in Auckland, Costco would be licensed, but they're locked out simply because they're in the West.
"That could change quickly depending on the local election results though. Trusts Action Group is pro-competition and we're committed to giving West Aucklanders the chance to remove the monopoly."
Earlier, Costco Australia and New Zealand managing director Patrick Noone said Costco intended to work with local authorities to "determine whether it will be possible for us to sell our liquor range within our Auckland warehouse once we open" (Noone had no further comment today).
But the chief executive officer of The Trusts, Allan Pollard, says the giant retailer will not be permitted to sell alcohol when it launches in New Zealand.
"As Costco is opening inside the Waitakere Licensing Trust boundary they will not be in a position to retail alcohol due to the exclusive trading rights that are in operation as set by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act," Pollard said.
Costco has in the past lobbied to change the rules. When the US giant first set up shop in Australia (where it sells liquor in New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra), and found it could not sell alcohol in South Australia, it took its case as far as the state's Supreme Court, where it lost a hearing in 2016. So far on this side of the Tasman, there's been no sign of a legal push or political lobbying.
Trusts Action has taken up the baton, however. The group is lobbying new Justice Minister Kiri Allan with a broad push for reform. In an open letter, the group calls for licensing trusts to be included in an upcoming review of the Supply and Sale of Alcohol Act (2012). It calls for greater scrutiny, and highlights that some of the Trusts' charitable giving comes from pokie machines in its bars.
Pollard, who took up the CEO reins at The Trusts in mid-2020, has styled himself as a "new broom" leader. He has taken the tack of acknowledging many of the Trusts Action criticisms - telling the Herald he's moved to lower costs, increase transparency, spruce up bars and introduce competition, of a sort, with the introduction of four Liquorland franchise stores, managed by The Trusts but matching the chain's national pricing on specials.
The CEO also said in a guest editorial for the Herald that The Trusts have given back more than $6 million to the community since 2019 - albeit with pandemic costs crimping recent returns.
Smale said the progress was too slow and only prompted by official complaints.
He stresses his group does not want to eliminate The Trusts - but it does want them opened to competition, which they say would make them lift their game.
Amanda Cassidy, who is serving as acting chief executive while Pollard is on leave this week, said, "During this election period we remain neutral and will not be commenting on various candidates and their campaigns.
"We welcome all voices on our elected boards and look forward to working with whomever the community decides."
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