SNOW HILL — Whether it is simply a sound seasonal business decision or further evidence of the pending demise of the Department of Liquor Control, the County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to close the retail store on 16th Street in Ocean City during the winter months.
Worcester County DLC Director Robert Cowger on Tuesday approached the commissioners about a proposal to close the department’s retail and wholesale liquor operation on 16th Street in Ocean City from January through April.
“The business just isn’t there during the winter,” he said. “We are expecting to continue to take losses there during the next four months if we keep it open, and we’re confident the public’s needs would be met with our other locations such as Gold Coast [Ma;;].”
Cowger recommended closing the 16th Street operation effective Jan. 1 to May 1. He told the commissioners due to winter and the lack of both patrons and licensees in the south end of town, the DLC is projecting a net loss of $57,371 from January through April.
He explained closing the 16th Street store with the commissioners’ approval would result in an approximate savings of $27,259 after paying the lease amount of $30,112. The DLC is in the second year of a 10-year lease for the 16th Street facility.
Cowger said the store’s current inventory would remain on site and utilities would be kept to a minimum if the commissioners agreed to close the facility. The store’s current employees would be relocated to the DLC’s other retail operation in the north end of town.
As a result, some of the temporary employees would be furloughed and replaced with full-time DLC employees from the 16th Street store during the four-month closure.
While closing the 16th Street store for the winter months appears to make sense from a seasonal business perspective, it does signal a continued decline in the county’s new DLC. Since the General Assembly passed legislation allowing private-sector liquor wholesalers to sell directly to the licensees in Worcester, the DLC has continually restructured much of its retail operation. Just last month, modest price hikes for retail liquor at the county stores were approved to help keep the DLC out of the red, prompting at least one commissioner to wonder on Tuesday what this latest development regarding the 16th Store signals.
The commissioners voted 6-1 on Tuesday to approve the closure with the only nay vote coming from Commissioner Joe Mitrecic, who said “We’re just prolonging the end.”