SNOW HILL – A license approved Wednesday is expected to allow the connections of Friendship Food Mart to take over Worcester County’s Route 50 liquor store.
On Wednesday, the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) agreed to grant Ankur Patel and Kailas Patel a beer, wine and liquor license for the Route 50 liquor store operated by the county. Earlier this month, the Worcester County Commissioners approved their bid to sublease the space. Ankur Patel is one of the owners of the nearby Friendship Food Mart.
Attorney Mark Cropper, representing the Patels, told the board there were no other liquor stores within the immediate area. He also introduced Kelly Shannahan, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, who told the board that when the county operated the store it typically had annual sales in excess of $1 million.
Cropper advised the board that while Friendship Food Mart’s past sales of alcohol to minors had resulted in four license violations, Ankur Patel — who will be in the new store close to 40 hours a week — had not made the sales.
BLC member Marty Pusey pointed out those violations had resulted in a $3,500 fine and a temporary suspension of Friendship Food Mart’s alcohol privileges.
“Ultimately the responsibility falls back on the licensee,” she said.
Board member Charles Nichols agreed and asked how Patel would prevent sales to minors in the new store.
“I’d like to know what your plan of attack is,” he said.
Patel said he would not sell alcohol to anyone without identification. He said he had new scanners and had already purchased new registers that would require cashiers to input a customer’s date of birth.
“It isn’t all with the register,” Nichols said.
Cropper assured him employees at the store would undergo training regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages.
“We will stipulate, since it’s an obvious concern of the board, that in the early years there were operational deficiencies at Friendship Food Mart that have since been rectified,” Cropper said.
Since 2014, Friendship Food Mart has been checked by law enforcement four times and did not sell to minors on those occasions.
The board voted 3-0 to approve the license.
