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As selectboard airs concerns about Big Y, Price Chopper liquor license denied

Shell station co-owner Ankit Patel told the Berkshire Eagle he planned to file a lawsuit against the town for denying him a liquor license only weeks before the selectboard initially took up Price Chopper's application. 

GREAT BARRINGTON — Amid concerns about fairness and a pending appeal from another store, an evenly divided selectboard voted Monday night to deny the awarding of a beer-and-wine license to Price Chopper.

See Edge video below of Monday’s Great Barrington selectboard meeting. The discussion on Price Chopper begins at 19:48:

The license is the only one remaining from the town’s allotment. The owner of the Shell station and convenience store, just to the south of the Price Chopper on Stockbridge Road, applied for a beer and-wine license but the selectboard rejected his application by a vote of 3–1 at its April 11 meeting. The fifth selectman, Garfield Reed, has recused himself from involvement in liquor licenses because he works at a competitor, the Plaza Package Store on State Road.

On Monday night, the selectboard continued the public hearing for the license application but most of the comments on the matter came from board members and not the public.

eric gabriel
Great Barrington Selectboard member Eric Gabriel. Photo provided

Board member Eric Gabriel reiterated his position, initially expressed at the first hearing on May 11, that members of the sober community might be unnecessarily tempted by the alcoholic offerings, especially considering that Price Chopper is the only grocery store in town that cannot sell alcohol.

“I think it would be a mistake to give Price Chopper the beer-and-wine license. I feel like if we’re being honest, we would say that giving it to Big Y was a mistake and I don’t feel comfortable with the situation,” Gabriel said. “I’m not trying to limit alcohol in Great Barrington; I just don’t feel that it belongs in a grocery store of that size.”

Board member Ed Abrahams added that he had voted to give Big Y the all-alcohol license a few years ago and now regrets it. He also disagreed with some who had suggested Price Chopper be awarded the license so that it could better compete with Big Y. “That shouldn’t be our job,” Abrahams said.

Abrahams also addressed the elephant in the room. The Shell station co-owner, Ankit Patel, told the Berkshire Eagle he planned to file a lawsuit against the town for denying him the liquor license only weeks before the selectboard initially took up Price Chopper’s application. 

Patel can also appeal the denial to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC). However, the applicant or licensee must appeal the action of the local authority to the ABCC within five business days of receipt of the local authority’s written decision.

The Shell station on Stockbridge Road was denied a beer-and-wine license and plans to contest the decision. Image via Google Maps

Patel’s application was denied, in part, because some board members were concerned that motorists filling their tanks might grab a quick adult beverage to drink when they get back behind the wheel.

“I would hate for someone to prevail in court and still be unable to, in effect, ‘collect,’ so I think we should hold off on any liquor licenses until that is resolved,” said Abrahams.

Davis was more sympathetic to granting the license to Price Chopper, provided that the store be prohibited from setting up so-called satellite displays, such as those at Big Y, and confining placement to the beer-and-wine aisle near the center of the store, which is where Price Chopper lawyer Eugene R. Richard said was where the alcohol would be primarily shelved.

Davis made a motion to approve the Price Chopper license contingent on the resolution of the appeal or lawsuit from Patel. Board chair Steve Bannon joined her in voting yes, while Gabriel and Abrahams voted no. A tie vote means the motion fails.

eugene richard
Attorney Eugene R. Richard. Photo courtesy Hurwitz, Richard & Sencabaugh LLP

The town’s other grocery stores are allowed to sell alcohol in one form or another: Big Y; Guido’s; the Berkshire Co-op Market; and Gorham & Norton. Both Big Y and Gorham & Norton have so-called “all-alcohol” licenses, which means they can sell not only beer and wine, but hard liquor as well. Rubiner’s, a cheese store on Main Street, also sells “natural wines.” Richard has said this puts Price Chopper, which is undergoing a rebranding to Market 32, at a competitive disadvantage.

Some town residents have scoffed at the notion that anyone should be concerned that too many liquor licenses exist when the number of cannabis stores in Great Barrington is easily the most in southern Berkshire County. At last count, the town had licensed five: Theory Wellness; Rebelle; Farnsworth Fine Cannabis; Calyx Berkshire; and, most recently, the Great Barrington Dispensary.

The Schenectady, New York-based Price Chopper, a division of the Golub Corporation, operates nearly 300 Price Chopper, Market 32, Market Bistro, and Tops Markets stores, employing more than 30,000 people. Last year the company acquired Tops, nearly doubling the collective footprint of the two chains, which own stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.

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