on area customers, Cowger contin-
ued, as Shore Spirits is only a short
drive away. Because Cowger be-
lieves that Shore Spirits should be
able to adequately meet the town's
needs in terms of the availability of
liquor, the DLC would not support a
private business in Berlin pursuing a
liquor license at this time.
issue a license back there because it
would hurt both of us," Cowger said.
"If [the original store] would run we
would keep it there, if it was really
profitable, but it's not really profitable.
It did better than break even, but it's
not worth two locations within two
miles of each other."
stand-alone liquor store, pointed out
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams. A pri-
vate business that already sells
beer and wine might want to expand
its operation to encompass liquor as
well, which he said was reasonable
and fair.
store, then possibly there's enough
money there to be a side income for
someone in private business," said
Williams, adding that if the stand-
alone DLC branch was making a
profit, even a slight one, it was inter-
esting that they still wanted to leave
the town.
Berlin won't have a liquor retailer
within town-limits.
wants to see the county succeed,"
said the mayor. "But if they're leaving
Berlin, why should Berlin be the only
community in Worcester County to
not have a place available to buy li-
quor to take home in the whole coun-
ty? Are we somehow different?"
only about two miles from the for-
mer location and thus should still
keep the town covered, especially
since the nearby Shore Spirits is the
largest of all county-run liquor
marts. The DLC worries that if pri-
vate retailers begin to crowd the
liquor industry in Worcester, it will
be detrimental to all parties involved
as well as create a less than ideal
environment in the county.
ment of Liquor Control (DLC) has
officially made the call to eliminate
its liquor market in Berlin in favor of
consolidating business at their re-
cently built flagship location on
Route 50.
by the DLC's departure, though
such a move will be fought by the
county, officials said. It would also
require a legislative change at the
state level to extend the boundaries
for a private liquor retail outlet.
hawk Road last spring. Because it is
only about two miles from the long-
standing Berlin market, it has been
widely expected for months that the
county will shutter the Berlin store
and concentrate on the new store. It
was announced late last week with a
simple posting on the window at the
Berlin store that the location will close
on Sept. 2 and that all customers
should visit the Route 50 site instead.
to run the two of them within two
miles of each other," said Bobby
Cowger, director of the DLC.
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