Commission grants Costco liquor license
Date: 12/26/2012
By Carley Dangona
carley@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD — Despite opposition from a liquor store less than a half mile away, the License Commission granted Costco a license to sell wine on Dec. 18.
The commissioners unanimously voted to approve the transfer of a liquor license and location change from Lyons Package Store Inc., located at 1399 Westfield St., to Costco Atlantic Liquors Inc.
Costco will build an addition to its existing location at 119 Daggett Drive. The change was allowed despite opposition from Table & Vine (T&V), a division of Big Y Foods Inc., located at 1119 Riverdale St.
"Our founding fathers would appreciate the competition," Paul Maleck, chair, said. "I believe there is public need and want [for this change].
The license was approved with the following conditions:
•All servers of alcohol must be bar code certified
•The liquor products are not to be permitted in the general warehouse at any time
•The addition must be constructed in accordance with all Planning Board decisions and plans
•The package store's operating hours are to be the same as the general warehouse; and
•All state and federal laws and regulations must be upheld.
Attorney Michael Powers, representing Costco, stated, "Competition is not an appropriate factor to determine the license. T&V is leading the opposition." He noted that T&V has a different atmosphere than Costco, including an entire inventory of "artisan cheese," which his client does not carry.
He described Costco's limited alcohol selection of "elite wine" that includes approximately 200 products as minimal compared to the variety of choices offered at T&V.
One of the main topics presented by both sides was the issue of traffic. Costco representatives explained that the majority of liquor sales were generated by customers already shopping at its general warehouse, citing less than 1 percent of alcohol sales from non-members.
T&V argued that because purchases from the Costco package store did not require membership as its warehouse does, traffic would become an issue since this availability would attract new customers.
Attorney Neil Schauer, representing T&V, argued that the figures presented by Costco were not "an accurate representation of what is going to take place," of the amount of traffic the alcohol sales will generate.
Schauer added, "There is going to be an enormous amount of business there. There's no way they're doing this to gain one to two customers a day."
Speaking on behalf of T&V, Jeffrey Pechulis of Land Development Services Inc., accused Costco of not being forthright regarding the traffic studies at the time it presented the plans for its 2,995-square-foot addition, future site of the package store to the Planning Board or Department of Public Works (DPW).
"Costco stated the purpose of the addition as retail space," Pechulis said. "Its representatives did not specify that it was for something new. A traffic study was not done." Instead, he stated that a trip generation was completed for "typical warehouse expansion" and not for a new feature that will generate increased sales.
This procedure is when reference data compiled by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is used to forecast the number of trips a store will generate to address concerns of traffic congestion. According to Pechulis, the ITE does not have figures to represent the impact of a liquor store.
Jason Adams of McMahon Transportation Engineers & Planners represented Costco. "We did not do a traffic study because we were not required to [by the Planning Board or DPW]."
Martin Lyons, proprietor of Lyons Package, said, "These are linked trips between the [Costco] warehouse and the liquor store. T&V have expanded multiple times, bringing more traffic to the area...They had no objection to the addition of the Olive Garden, ALDI or Raymour & Flanigan Furniture."
"I was moved by many comments, on both sides of the aisle. While I was impressed by both [traffic] experts, frankly I'm not swayed either way," Malek commented.
He continued, "The Planning Board knew what they were doing. Costco went above and beyond to meet the criteria of the board. We're going to miss Lyons and we wish them success. I believe Costco will follow in Lyons' footsteps."
