Charlotte beer and wine shop Brawley's Beverage is seeking a rezoning in order to open a space for people to drink on the premises, a move owner Michael Brawley hopes will help the store stay competitive.
"All the new stores have one," Brawley said of on-premise consumption licenses. "If someone can have a pint while they shop, it's a tremendous advantage."
A number of new stores with on-premise licenses have popped up, including Salud Beer Shop in NoDa and Good Bottle Co. on Remount Road. Common Market now has two locations, in Plaza-Midwood and South End, and even Whole Foods in SouthPark has four taps and more than two dozen wines available to drink in the store. Charlotte's breweries also offer on-premise consumption.
"We were kind of kind of the first beer geek store in town," said Brawley, who opened the store about 9 1/2 years ago. "When we started, there really wasn't any competition to speak of, and there wasn't any competition for on-premise except for Common Market."
The Park Seneca Lawnmower repair shop adjacent to Brawley's moved to Old Pineville Road after their lease was up in August, opening up the possibility of rezoning the beer and wine shop, Brawley said.
In addition to letting customers sip and shop, an on-premise consumption license would let Brawley hold special events at his store, instead of at restaurants or bars like he does currently.
Brawley stresses that he's not seeking to open a bar. Hours wouldn't change much, and the whole thing would be family friendly. He hopes to eventually add food to the store's offerings, but that's on the back burner for now. If all goes well, Brawley hopes to have renovations done by May, in time for the store's 10-year anniversary.
A hearing on the rezoning request is set for Nov. 12. You can see Brawley's rezoning application here.
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Brawley is a big Obama supporter. Will never shop there.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Anon 7:42. That means more beer for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Mike! I'm looking forward to enjoying a pint in the tasting room next Spring!
Your loss. Wee won't miss you.
ReplyDeleteWell Anon 7:42, I'd wager that the owners of all those other specialty beer shops lean pretty liberal too, so have fun buying your cases of Bud Light at Wal-Mart I guess!
ReplyDeleteTrust me Anon 7:42, you won't be missed. As Anon 9:32 said - you may not have much luck finding good beer if that's your criteria. Fool.
ReplyDeleteMike - can't wait for the expansion to open! In the meantime, you know we'll be regulars (gotta keep re-stocking...) Best of luck.