Main Street eyed for new state-owned liquor store

By James Ivancic and Jill Palermo, Times Staff Writers

Warrenton Mayor Carter Nevill sees a bright side in Virginia ABC’s interest in opening a new liquor store in Old Town Warrenton.

If the state authority is eyeing Main Street, it must believe Old Town Warrenton has the vitality to support it, Nevill said Thursday.

“I think it means that Main Street is worth investing in,” Nevill said.

The new liquor store also represent an “anchor” establishment that would generate foot traffic for existing retail outlets and induce new ones to open, the mayor said. Nevill owns Carter & Spence, Ltd., a jewelry and gift store, at 41 Main St.

“Thirty-five years ago, we had a pharmacy, a [Virginia] ABC store and a hardware store as anchors. During the 1970s, they vacated Main Street,” Nevill said. “During the interim we’ve survived without an anchor bringing in a broader swath of demographic.”

Virginia ABC is interested in vacant retail space at 104 Main St., which was previously occupied by Latitudes. The eclectic shop, which features “fair trade” imported items, moved to a larger space down the street in October.

This empty storefront, at 104 Main St., under consideration for a new Virginia ABC liquor store.

STAFF PHOTO

Virginia ABC stores sell packaged alcoholic beverages for off-site consumption. Police will be making sure buyers “aren’t going into somebody’s vehicle” to drink, Nevill said.

Any criticism that an ABC store isn’t right for Old Town “smacks of elitism – that there’s no need to serve the community,” Nevill said.

Amelia Stansell, chairperson of Experience Old Town Warrenton, an organization that promotes the downtown area, said the group has not taken a position on a possible ABC store in Old Town. The board could take a position at its Dec. 10 meeting if it has more facts by then, Stansell said in an email.

Virginia ABC does not need the Warrenton Town Council’s permission to open a new store in Old Town, but the agency “wants to ensure it will be a good fit for the community.”

That’s according to Virginia ABC spokeswoman Dawn Eischen, who said the state agency is in the “preliminary stages” of a process to consider a new Warrenton store.

“As a potential new local business in the downtown Warrenton area and economic partner, Virginia ABC wants to ensure it would be a good fit for the community,” she said.

Virginia ABC notified Warrenton officials about its interest in leasing the property on Main Street last week, Eischen said.

News that Virginia ABC was considering a new store in old Town Warrenton came as a surprise to Town Councilman Sean Polster, who posted a picture of a flyer in the window of the former Latitudes storefront on Facebook Thursday morning.

Polster (At Large) said he spotted the sign on his daily exercise route around town.

“I’m pretty well connected, and I haven’t heard anything about it,” he said.

Polster said he’s a bit concerned about how a liquor store might affect the character of Old Town Warrenton, which is mostly home to shops, restaurants and professional offices.

“How many family-friendly stores are going to want to move in next to a liquor store?” Polster said. “I really just don’t know.”

The Virginia ABC notice says members of the public can weigh in on the proposed Old Town Warrenton location by emailing sites@abc. virginia.gov.

Virginia ABC operates more than 370 stores statewide, according to its website, including one at 175 W. Lee Highway in the Warrenton Village Shopping Center.

Two other stores are located in Fauquier County, one in Marshall and Bealeton.

Virginia ABC would continue to operate the four stores in Fauquier County if it opens the new store on Main Street. The existing Warrenton store is the busiest in the region, with gross sales topping $4.9 million last year, according to the Virginia ABC 2017 Annual Report.

Contact news@fauquier.com

Warrenton ABC store grosses $4.9 million 2017

A new Virginia ABC store Old Town Warrenton would not replace the existing Warrenton store, which had the highest sales in the region in 2017.

Located in the Warrenton Village Shopping Center, 175 W. Lee Highway, the Warrenton Virginia ABC store had higher gross sales than any other store in Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Madison and Orange counties.

Source: 2017 Virginia ABC annual report