Initiative 1183’s passage last year means Washington has to get out of the liquor business and put all of its state-run liquor stores on the auction block. Bidding for the stores just started last Thursday and is growing at a furious pace. Big-box retailers like Costco have said they’re sticking with their state contracts and won’t bother buying out and shutting down the small-fry stores. Aw, nice of them. Really though, compared to the windfall deal the big boys just scored, these little stores aren’t considered a threat. So the floodgates have opened to smaller investors wanting a go at the once state-run industry. Buyers can bid on stores individually or all together. The value of most stores is staying down at the base $1k bid, but the big prize is dropping a ton of cash to buy up everything. Despite the price war to buy all 137 stores, certain downtown Seattle stores are starting to gain sizable bids. The downtown 2nd and Union liquor store is going for $40k as of Monday night while the Belltown store by Denny and Dexter is bidding at $30k. The Cap Hill store at 12th and Pine, bidding at $10k, is tied for third with stores in Maple Valley and North Bend. At 10 pm the high bid for buying all the liquor stores was $380,100. That is up from a reported $50,100 Friday afternoon. In just one weekend the value of the state’s liquor stores has jumped seven-fold and the auction still has another six weeks to grow.