Elk Grove Aldi misses liquor hearing, placing license in jeopardy

An Aldi grocery store clerk in Elk Grove Village sold alcohol to an undercover cop without asking for ID - a violation of local liquor laws - and now the store is in jeopardy of losing its liquor license if officials don't show up to a hearing next month.

Aldi representatives didn't attend a scheduled liquor commission meeting on the matter last week - the first time the village's attorney remembers a license holder not attending in more than four decades, said Mayor Craig Johnson, who serves as the local liquor commissioner.

"Aldi has been a very good business in town here," Johnson said of the store at 620 Meacham Road. "Until this one incident, we've never had a run-in on any issue. My hope is it fell through the cracks somehow.

"But I am disappointed, and I made it perfectly clear to them they have to have a representative at the Sept. 8 meeting or their license will be immediately revoked," Johnson said.

Officials at Aldi didn't respond to a request for comment.

In 2000, Elk Grove became the first town in Illinois to require carding of all consumers trying to buy alcohol from a store - no matter the age.

The same rules don't apply to restaurants or bars.

The Aldi store was cited after a plainclothes police officer tried to buy liquor, but the clerk didn't ask for identification. The police report says the clerk was filling in temporarily at the Elk Grove store from another Aldi location.

At the rescheduled liquor commission meeting at 6:45 p.m. Sept. 8, Aldi faces a possible fine, suspension or revocation of its liquor license at the Meacham Road store.