Due to unresolved Liquor Liability Insurance issues beyond our control, we will not be able to sell alcoholic beverages at tonight’s Killer Queen show. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have the insurance in place before our next event.
Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
What does this mean to you? Maybe not much if you don’t live in the Upstate of South Carolina. But, to us, it means NO small business that sells alcohol is safe from the rising insurance rates caused by South Carolina’s poorly written liability laws.
Image: Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
Like Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, Adele Smith Alducin and her husband Paul are feeling the heavy weight of rising insurance rates. Their small business, Bubble Bourbon & Bubbles, is a boutique bottle shop, located in Clinton, SC. Adele (Delly) has been an asset to our cause since the beginning, providing information like in today’s comment on Facebook.
“You can’t stay silent, that will close up the entire state for any ABC sales. Some of our fellow ABC stores are already seeing the spikes in insurance.”
Adele Smith Alducin via Facebook comment
South Carolina insurance agents have seen this coming for several years. Insurance agent and member of the SC House of Representatives, Ross Turner said so himself when he spoke at our town hall meeting at Sweet Sippin’ in Simpsonville back in August. The SCVC team has been warning business owners and the general public since we became aware of this issue in April.
We are ALL going to be affected unless something is done.
There have been a lot of suggested solutions like, “stop serving alcohol” and “charge a cover at the door and let people BYOB.” John Hoyt, leader of Hot As A Pepper Party Band, co-founder of Upstate Music Meetup, and admin for the Facebook group “Upstate Live Music SC” as well as PalmettoShowcase.com, has at least one good reason why those actions won’t work.
“Without the alcohol, many places will scale back drastically on things like, well, entertainment.”
John Hoyt
He’s not wrong. We’ve heard from several venues, which requested to remain anonymous, that cutting costs will indeed include music! One business owner told our Director of Operations and Communications that “having a singer in the corner with a guitar would cause (his) liquor liability insurance to increase by $20,000!”
What can we do to keep the music playing and money flowing for our small businesses? Keep contacting your legislators and reminding them that THEY have the power to make the changes needed to bring insurance carriers back to SC.
SC Venue Crisis 
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