Roslindale convenience store wants to make it more convenient for its customers to buy beer and wine
By adamg - 7/19/12 - 8:44 pm
Henry's Market, 892 South St., goes before the Boston Licensing Board next Wednesday to seek a license to sell beer and wine. The board's hearings begin at 10 a.m. in its eighth-floor hearing room in City Hall.
Ed. note: It'll be interesting to see if city officials will say Roslindale has enough liquor sales, what with a full-service liquor store and a wine shop a few blocks away in Roslindale Square, like they did when somebody proposed selling beer and wine on Fairmount Avenue in Hyde Park.
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Check the donations
Also, has Henry hired Quilty, McDermott, and Miller? Those data points might help us figure out whether that part of Roslindale has "too many liquor stores".
Craft beer? Not likely!
I usually shop Solera for beer and wine, but Henry's would be a great alternative if I didn't feel like walking the 5 minutes into the Square.
Alex's has all the standard beer brands...
... so I don't see them establishing much of a case for needing something beyond Solera. Yes, it's a five minute walk away to go there, but that's not enough to be an inconvenience. We'll still do Solera, if not just Whole Foods in Dedham when we nab groceries.
Can a convenience store sell booz?
I don't get this. Can any convenience store apply to sell beer and wine? It seems like if that were they case, 7-11 would be applying all over the place. Anyway, I can't see this making me switch from Solera, which sells really good inexpensive wine and really good, albeit expensieve, beer.
Yes and no
Yes, any convenience store can apply for a license to sell liquor in Boston. In the past, the Boston Licensing Board was reluctant to allow convenient liquor sales, but they've loosened up a bit.
Quality Mart won a bruising booze battle with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay last year (it had to agree to give up 24-hour operation, though).
Speaking of 7-Eleven, there was one in Brighton that had a license, then lost it then applied for it again (apologies: I should know if they got it, but I don't).
But don't worry about Tedeschi trying to outfit all its stores with beer coolers: There's a state law that limits a company to a total of three liquor licenses. Also, in Boston, keep in mind that there's a finite number of licenses (actually, there's a finite number in every community, but only in Boston is that number set by the legislature, rather than by some formula based on population), so there's no guarantee the board will have a license to dole out when a particular applicant seeks a license (this may be anecdotal, but based on what I've seen sitting in on board hearings these past few years, it seems like they're more likely to have licenses on hand for beer and wine sales in retail stores than for beverage service at bars and restaurants).
Maybe not all over the place
But check out the 7-11 at Centre Street and Ardale (four blocks away from Henrys). They do indeed sell wine and beer.
I don't trust Henry's. It was
I don't trust Henry's. It was quite an eyesore in the neighborhood for quite some time. Even after the renovation, it's starting to look shabby again as the windows are again covered in every ad possible.