Boiler Bay Beacon
LINCOLN CITY — While the decision to allow liquor sales in Oregon supermarket chains won’t go on the ballot until Nov. 2028, innovative Taft grocer Andy Morgan has already been declared the winner.
“People drive down from Neskowin and Depoe Bay. It sort of surprises me that people are still discovering us, but that’s nice, too.” – Andy Morgan
At Kenny’s Village IGA Food Market at Siletz Bay, it’s a straight shot from vegetables and dairy to Glenfiddich Scotch and Ketel One Vodka. A third-generation grocer, Morgan operates one of about 30 “store within a store” outlets authorized in 2018 by the once-hidebound Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
The experiment paid off, leading to record, year-after-year increases in alcohol revenues for the state of Oregon, which holds on to its liquor monopoly tighter than a Kentucky jug. Alcohol revenues brought a record $1.686 billion in total revenue to the state in the 2021-23 state budget, a figure that fell last year for the first time due to a significant drop in Oregon’s population.
Regardless, Big Grocery wants a piece of the action. According to the state Elections Division, sponsors of Initiative Petition 2028-019 filed 1,472,signatures, enough to register a ballot title though several hundred thousand more will be needed to put it on the Nov. 7, 2028 statewide ballot.
“I figured they’d be back for another bite at the apple,” said Andy, one of 280 independent retail agents spread across every county in Oregon. “I just hope they don’t screw it up. They deregulated in Washington and made a mess of it, double-taxing people with a liquor tax and a sales tax. Oregon’s already one of the top 10 most expensive places to buy alcohol.”
Whatever the outcome of the latest bid to expand booze, Morgan doubts it will hurt mom ‘n pop retailers such as his store or the agent at Rose Lodge Market east of town, who specialize in variety and upscale brands.
“In my opinion it won’t affect us,” remarked Morgan, who descends from a line of savvy operators including his father, Kenny, and grandfather, Kenny, Sr., who founded Kenny’s in 1947.
According to a report by the OLCC, the state profits from an average 51 percent markup on distilled spirits. Costs are minimized with independent agents earning a mere 10 percent commission while paying all expenses, Including rent, utilities, employees, etc. The brutal margins faced by most agents don’t bother Morgan as much, however.
“Regardless of how much liquor we sell, I think it’s good for the grocery business,” he said. “It’s like adding a deli to a store that doesn’t have one. It increases the foot traffic, including the opportunities to spend. It helps to employ people in the cold, dark months of winter and sustain all the great services you get in the summer.”
In the nearly 80 years since the Kenny’s grocery business was started in Lincoln City, it has gone through many changes. Gone is the flagship Foodliner in midtown, replaced by an imaginative and colorful market that is a business anchor of the south end.
“Made-in-the-northwest, fresh food is our biggest focus,” stated Andy, whose store is a selective shopper’s destination chock-a-block with organic foods, signature labels, vibrant vegetables, flamboyant fruits, custom meats and chilled seafood. “People drive down from Neskowin and Depoe Bay. It sort of surprises me that people are still discovering us, but that’s nice, too.”
Kenny’s Village IGA Food Market, which claims the coldest beer cooler in Lincoln County, is open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 4845 SW Hwy. 101 in the Taft area of Lincoln City.
