Church Defeats Wal-Mart in Wine, Beer Battle
A church in Georgia has defeated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a battle over alcohol.
A local law in the city of Marietta, Ga., prohibits alcohol sales within 600 feet of church buildings. But Wal-Mart built its store closer than that to the 63-year-old Pine Grove Baptist Church.
The retail giant asked the church to sign a waiver allowing beer and wine sales, but the church declined.
“It’s like David and Goliath, I guess, but we’re fighting and we’re hoping we’re going to come out victorious over this,” Pine Grove’s pastor, Rev. Bobby Wood, said.
Wal-Mart has been appealing the city ordinance, arguing that their customers complain they can’t buy alcohol.
But on Tuesday, Wood and his church pled their case to county commissioners who agreed with them, upholding the ban in a four-to-one vote.
”There’s a lot of problems caused by alcohol, a lot of traffic accidents,” Wood said. ”There’s a reason for (ordinances), and I don’t think they ought to be circumvented to please a major corporation like Wal-Mart.”
