Atlanta council allows gourmet stores to sell beer, wine

For six months, the wine racks at the back of the Mercantile, a Candler Park gourmet store, have sat empty because of a city ordinance aimed at curbing a proliferation of package stores. But they soon may be brimming with pinot noir.

Late Monday, the Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance that puts specialty food shops, such as the Mercantile, into a special classification for liquor licensing, allowing them to sell wine, beer and malt beverages even if package stores are in close proximity. No more than 30 percent of gross receipts may come from beer and wine sales.

“This will make a tremendous difference to my business,” said Janea Boyles, who owns the Mercantile with Samantha Enzmann and has spent a year spearheading a coalition of shop owners and sympathetic councilmen to push the legislation. “That’s always been part of my business model — to pair wines with food to go.”

Under the old law, food shops fell under the same classification as package stores and service stations. These businesses may not operate within 1,500 feet of each other.

The Mercantile is 1,200 feet from the Candler Park Market, which has a large selection of wine and beer.

Specialty food stores in other neighborhoods have been similarly affected. The Cabbagetown Market is five yards too close to a small package store. Le Petit Marché in Kirkwood faces a gas station with a cooler box filled with beer. The owners of these businesses have argued that they serve a different clientele.

The legislation — authored by Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong — makes very clear what a specialty food store may not sell to distinguish it from a package store.

On the forbidden list: no tobacco, no lottery tickets, no gasoline. In addition, these businesses may not have a drive-thru lane and cannot cash checks.

Still, some residents, fearful of a proliferation of package stores, have voiced concern about the change.

“We want specialty food stores, not specialty alcohol stores,” said Ed Gilgor, chairman of the Neighborhood Planning Unit that includes East Atlanta.

The ordinance passed 11-2, and will be signed into law unless Mayor Shirley Franklin vetoes it within eight days.

“I can’t say how grateful I am to our city’s leaders because they were really up there working for small businesses,” Boyles said.