Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Ends Wine Kiosk Program

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's experiment with self-serve wine kiosks in supermarkets is over.

The wine kiosk program was plagued with problems, mostly as a result of malfunctioning machines. Then the LCB ended up in a contract dispute with the manufacturer of the kiosks.

LCB spokeswoman Stacy Witalec claims the agency is owed more than a million dollars in expenses, "The contract that we had with Simple Brands was a no cost contract and our expenses were to be reimbursed by simple brands for anything that we incurred through the set-up and the maintenance of the program, so anything related to data lines and those sorts of options."

Witalec says Simple Brands failed to resolve the matter by Monday night's deadline and now the agency has shut down the kiosks. She says the LCB has already begun conversations with the manufacturer with regard to removing the 21 kiosks that were still in operation.

Reported by Harrisburg Bureau Chief Tony Romeo, KYW Newsradio 1060