Board Considers Expansion of Beltway Liquors

It's a classic story of David and Goliath, except in this case there are many Davids: , the warehouse-style liquor store known for its expansive selection, is looking to expand.

Representatives of the 18,000-square-foot liquor store say the new space, located above the shop in space formerly occupied by an Ethan Allen store, will be used for storage and a wine education classroom — both elements they say will allow them to better serve their customers.

Opponents of the expansion, including small liquor store and tavern owners, say that adding any more space to the already enormous retailer will give them an unfair edge when it comes to buying in bulk at discounted prices.

In turn, that would allow Beltway to slash the already discounted prices they can offer to their customers. Some opponents of the expansion say that will further damage their already struggling businesses.

The liquor board does not have the ability to control the use of a licensed space. Opponents are concerned that if the license is granted the space could possibly be used as retail space, or as space to store additional product while maintaining the retail space downstairs as storage.

The liquor board heard arguments from both sides on Monday afternoon during a session that took over four hours.

Liquor board chairman Charles E. Klein told attorneys representing each party that legal briefs would have to be filed within 15 days, which the board would consider before issuing a final written decision.

Michael Mohler, the board's chief administrator, said a final decision would take at least 20 days.

Even if the board approves the proposal, it would still have to be reviewed by the state comptroller's office. If the proposal is not approved, both sides expect that the case could end up in court.

At the heart of the issue is a 1997 Maryland state law prohibiting any liquor store larger than 10,000 square feet from obtaining a license to sell alcohol without showing that it is both "necessary to accommodate the needs of the public," and will not "have and undue negative impact on existing licensees in immediate vicinity."

The 18,000-square-foot Beltway Fine Wines & Spirits — the largest in Baltimore County according to testimony given during the hearing — opened in 1996 and as a result was "grandfathered" with respect to the law.

Opponents contend that when licensee David J. Trone, the majority owner of Beltway Fine Wines & Spirits, decided to apply for a license to expand the business to some 26,000 square feet he also made the business subject to that legislation.

The list of the names of those present to testify against the proposed expansion reads like a who's who of small liquor store and tavern owners in Baltimore County.

By and large their concerns were the similar — Beltway already has an impact on their businesses and, they say, the proposed expansion would allow the giant retailer to take advantage of quantity discounts not available to them because of the smaller size of their stores.

"They can sell so cheap, people already complain that the prices are lower there," said Dipak Desai, who owns the Liquor Pump in Parkville.

"Beltway is a huge store, there are only so many sales in a certain area. If a large store opens with cheaper prices, the sales have to come from somewhere. You know what will happen to the other stores," said Neil Smith, owner of the Crackpot in Loch Raven.

Speaking on behalf of his employer, Beltway store manager Tom Becker assured opponents and the liquor board that the expansion would have no impact on the retailer's buying patterns.

"We already take advantage of every quantity discount there is," he said.

Becker reasoned that the expansion would be used only to store excess product, allowing the retailer to change its appearance from that of a warehouse to a more shopper-friendly retail space.

As part of the proposed expansion, Becker said, a loading dock would be built on the east side of the building, away from the parking lot , where deliveries could be taken in and moved upstairs.

"As we’ve grown over the years, we have more and more of a selection of product. We’re looking to take product out of overhead [storage bins] to avoid stacking them four and five high, and out of aisles," Becker said.

The current system of accepting freight deliveries, Becker explained, is unwieldy at best — trucks pull up to the front door, the same one used by customers, and employees work to unload the merchandise into the store.

At that point, products are staged in the aisles, creating a potential trip hazard for employees and customers, before being moved "at a feverish pace" into overhead storage bins by hand.

With a new upstairs storage space the freight could be kept out of sight and stored safely until it is needed to stock the shelves.
Robert Shaffer, an attorney for Beltway Liquors, introduced as evidence a petition signed by over 5,500 Beltway customers in support of the expansion.

"I was sort of overwhelmed," Becker told the panel.

Crackpot owner Neil Smith wasn't buying any of it—he also has to use the front door to receive his deliveries and also lacks the space to store merchandise.

"I feel sorry for them about their storage problems, but I feel sorry for all of us who own liquor stores. We all have storage problems, you have boxes in the aisles because you have to put stuff away," Smith said.

"I have deliveries five days a week, we pile up too," said Firehouse Tavern owner Harry Cohen. "If another store wants to get stuff up more quickly, they can hire more people. Let them do it, that would do the economy good."

David Mister, the attorney for the opponents of the expansion told the board that no matter what the manager, Becker, promised; he is ultimately not accountable to the board.

Shaffer, in his closing arguments, tried to demonstrate to the board that the expansion of his client's store met the conditions for approval.

"It's going to accommodate the public, my client wants to have a better service. Keeping excess product off the floor and out of overhead bins is an issue of safety for customers and employees," he said.

As far as having undue negative impact on other license holders in the market?

"None of [the owners who testified] are in direct competition anyway—they're not really being affected, they have a different model and a different clientele," Shaffer said.

The attorney for those in opposition asked the panel to really consider the impact the expansion might have on other businesses in the area.

"It defies logic to think that by expanding a premises by one third, almost by one half, will not take more away from these other businesses," Mister said.

"The business would be 2.6 times larger than currently allowed by law. How big is big enough? Everybody would like to have more [space]; is it accommodating to the public, or just to the licensee?" he said.

This article has been updated to correct a statement about the attendance of Beltway owner David J. Trone at the Aug. 15 hearing. Trone was present for the hearing but did not testify before the board. Parkville-Overlea Patch regrets the error.