A Bottle Store on Every Corner? The Impact of Market Intervention
When people talk about Licensing Trusts, the debate usually circles around governing and management issues: CEO pay, expenses, store locations, range, and price. This are all valid discussion points, criticisms and ideas to discuss.
But zoom out and one of the less discussed topics (often because tis mixed up with the governance / management conversations) is the impact of the Trust model simply by existing.
That impact comes back to its original purpose : community control as an alternative to market control.
Market Logic vs. Community Logic
In a free market, supply follows demand. Where alcohol sales are profitable, outlets multiply, especially in high-demand areas which are also high-deprivation areas, which are also high alcohol harm areas. This is basic common sense free market supply and demand, that’s why if you do see liquor stores on nearly every corner you can assume that demand in that area must be high.
Licensing Trusts disrupts this pattern at a local level. Outlets can only open by the community-controlled Trust. This means the system is inherently less responsive to the market because it has to first go through a layer of local control.
Why People Say “A Bottle Store on Every Corner”
The phrase isn’t meant literally in most cases. I think it’s shorthand for what people observe in a free market: a simple observation that outlets cluster where it seems demand and profitability are highest. And chances are that the people saying this have either experienced this or have been somewhere where they have noticed it (think South Auckland or even your average gangster movie corner store scene.)
Retail patterns: In commercial terms, alcohol is a high-margin product. This means small retailers can sustain themselves in tight proximity to one another.
Demand concentration: Outlets tend to be densest in areas of high deprivation which also has high demand. These neighbourhoods see more stores because consumption is high and margins are reliable.
Urban visibility: Because liquor outlets usually occupy visible, street-front premises, their presence is more noticeable. The clustering effect—two or three in a short stretch can create the impression of being “everywhere.”
So when people say “a bottle store on every corner,” they’re pointing to the experience of living in suburbs where the free market has allowed density to build up, sometimes to the point where liquor stores are one of the most common retailers on the street.
What Changes Under a Licensing Trust
Licensing Trusts disrupt that natural market pattern. Stores can’t simply open wherever they’re profitable because that priviledge is controlled by the licenising trust. That means:
Fewer outlets: Trust areas have noticeably lower liquor store density.
Slower growth: Even where there is demand, outlets don’t proliferate at the pace seen in free-market areas.
Community expectations: The Trust model also carries added costs, because communities expect higher standards—investment in safety and security, living wage pay for staff, and a level of accountability that private operators aren’t compelled to match.
The Overall Effect
So while the free market can produce the “bottle store on every corner” effect especially in high-demand, high-deprivation suburbs Trust areas look different because the existence of a licensing trust disrupts the free market pattern.
This disruption means there are fewer outlets, retail expansion is slower, and there are higher operating costs because of community expectations.
Whether those differences are strengths or weaknesses is for the community to decide. But they illustrate clearly how market intervention at a local level can shape the physical character of our neighbourhood by restricting supply and number of outlets.
This video is from the perspective of locals who live in a high depravation area with no licensing trust market intervention - check out “liquor store on every corner” observation of the locals from 11min
