Indiana C-Stores Fight For Alcohol Sales

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. ? Some Indiana liquor store operators oppose convenience store liquor licenses, with the most current battle occurring against a Schereville Shell station, the Merrillville, Ind. Post-Tribune reported.

?If the state allows them to put beer in every gas station, where does it stop?? asks Gene Schilling, the owner of St. John Liquors on U.S. 41, near the Shell station in question. More than 500 people have signed petitions against the store's permit.

The Alcoholic Beverage Board of Lake County will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county government center in Crown Point on Schererville Shell?s request.
Merrillville attorney Stephen M. Brenman, who represents the Shell mini-mart owner, said gasoline/convenience stores need the permits to remain competitive with bigger chains such as Sam?s Club, Meijer and Costco, which also have gas pumps, the report stated.

?The only possible way these stores can compete is if they offer the same merchandise,? Brenman said in the Post-Tribune report. ?It?s a matter of survival.?

But liquor stores claim it's about their survival too. They see sales draining away as the number of state beer-wine permits increases for convenience stores, the report stated.

Schilling said beer makes up about 65 percent of his sales, while wine is about 15 percent, and NACS estimates 32 percent of beer sales will be at convenience stores this year.

Last month, the Lake County liquor board rejected beer-wine permit requests for five BP company-operated convenience/gas stations in Munster, Dyer, Griffith, Hammond and Schererville, according to the report.

BP spokesman Tom Keilman said four of the five denials will be appealed to the state ABC in Indianapolis.

?Our reason is to remain competitive with other convenience outlets,? Keilman said.

The Lake County liquor board usually denies requests from gasoline/convenience stores, board chairman Richard Harrigan said. ?Every time we deny it, it goes down to the ABC in Indianapolis and they get it,? the news source reported.

That?s what happened in 2002 when Brenman successfully represented Gas City Pantry in Michigan City and told the judge the store?s annual food sales were about $936,000, the report stated. Brenman argued that the sale of gasoline is not a justifiable reason for the denial of a beer-wine permit.

In Porter County, Ed Fritz, chairman of the county liquor board, said the issue there hasn?t been controversial, although there are several convenience store/gas stations with permits.

The permits awarded by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission are the same ones grocery stores receive, according to the newspaper.