For Immediate Release April 24, 2013

Wine Retailer Association Announces Name Changes and Expanded Area of Focus

—National Association of Wine Retailers Expanding
Focus to Include New Areas of Concern to America’s Wine Retailers—

(Sacramento, CALIF)—The Specialty Wine Retailers Association (SWRA) announced today it is changing the organization’s name to the National Association of Wine Retailers (NAWR) to reflect an expansion of the trade association’s areas of interest and focus. While still advocating for the rights of retailers to ship wine directly to consumers, NAWR has expanded its advocacy interest to issue of Third Party Marketing, Primary Source laws, and Tied House regulations as well as an expanded interest in promoting proper Commerce Clause understanding as it relates to alcohol and the 21st Amendment.

Although SWRA was founded with the specific intent of asserting wine retailers’ rights to practice wine retailing free from state based discrimination, a host of new issues impacting how wine retailers conduct business in the 21st century have convinced the Board of Directors to expand its area of focus,” said Tom Wark, the NAWR Executive Director. “NAWR remains intent on forcing the issue of free, fair and non-discriminatory direct shipping via the courthouse and the state house, but is also expanding to assert retailers interest in a host of other areas.

The new NAWR has also launched a new website in association with the name change: https://nawr.org. The NAWR positions on a number of issues of concern to NAWR members and modern retailers are presented at the new website.

“Wine retailing in the United States has rapidly changed and evolved over the past decade to the point where changing consumer expectations, enhanced logistics technology and new retail marketing channels are forcing wine retailers to change how they do business,” noted Wark. “The new NAWR represents wine retailers who require a voice in the regulatory and political arena able to articulate their unique interests.”

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CONTACT:
Tom Wark, Executive Director
707-266-1449 • [email protected]

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