The new operators of Eddie’s of Mt. Vernon grocery store on Thursday moved a step closer to reopening the Eager Street business when Baltimore’s liquor board approved their request to transfer the property’s still-active liquor license from the previous operators.
Baltimore’s liquor board voted 3 to 0 to grant a request to transfer a rare Class A liquor license from the operators who closed the store last June, Eddie’s of Eager Street, Inc., to a group that intends to reopen it, Gaurika, LLC.
The board’s action is a sign that the new operators are making progress on plans to reopen the grocery store at 7-11 West Eager Street. They’re aiming to reopen this summer and will continue to call it Eddie’s of Mt. Vernon.
The Class A license allows the operators to sell beer, wine, and liquor as packaged goods for off-premises consumption. Before it closed last June, Eddie’s was one of the few grocery stores in the city allowed to sell alcoholic beverages with a Class A license. The liquor board considers requests to transfer existing Class A licenses but no longer issues new Class A licenses.
The license was due to expire on Dec. 31, six months after the store closed. But the previous operator, Dennis Zorn, had asked the liquor board to keep the license active for another 180 days so it could be transferred to new operators, and the board agreed to do so.
According to information on file with the liquor board, the 100 percent owner of the Class A license is Kabita D Mahat, a Baltimore City resident whose husband Prim Mahat “has financial interest” in Nepal House, a restaurant and bar at 920 N. Charles Street.
The purchase price of the grocery business is $75,000, to be paid at settlement. A floor plan submitted with the application shows that the store will have areas on the east side of the building for the sale of beer; wine; champagne; “rum and liquor;” spirits, and “vodka & tequila,” along with a refrigerated “beer box” on the back wall.
Stephan W. Fogleman, attorney for the applicant, said the new operators have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mount Vernon Belvedere Association. He told the board that alcoholic beverages have accounted for 10 percent of the store’s business in the past and that the new operators plan to increase the amount of aisle space in the store devoted to the sale of alcoholic beverages from 300 linear feet to 500 linear feet, which he said is “something that certainly will be beneficial both to the neighborhood and the applicant for better selection of spirits and craft beer and local wine.”
Fogleman noted that Mahat has “extensive experience in the alcoholic beverage industry,” including work at a liquor store on Patterson Avenue and managing Nepal House. “It’s big shoes to fill,” he said of Eddie’s. “I’m convinced Ms. Mahat will be able to do that.”
Nice to have a liquor license in a Grocer for them as a base support of the business – but what’s the whole rehab going to look like as the former Eddies was pretty shopworn and in need of an entire overhaul and renovation. Just a paint fix up would not be enough would it ?