Bartlett drug stores OK'd to sell liquor
Liquor licenses were approved for a Bartlett Walgreens and a CVS store Tuesday, to the chagrin of at least two local business owners.
David Bhesania, owner of Town Liquor and Food, 233 S. Main Street, said after the vote, "They want to make their own decision, no matter what the public says."
Bhesania, who vowed that he will not renew his lease when it expires in three years, said once his business goes, that will be the fifth business that has not survived in his location.
"I tried my best to keep him in there. It's going to be a struggle for me too. I'm going to struggle with CVS," John Rainford, franchisee of the 7-Eleven located at Devon Avenue and Prospect Street, said after Tuesday's vote.
The village board voted 5-1 to grant the special use permits, with trustee T.L. Arends the only dissenting vote.
"This is a real tough issue. From an intellectual perspective we have to vote yes, but from an emotional perspective this is killing me," trustee Sherry Bormann said after voting in favor of both special use permits.
"This is tough - here in downtown it is tougher. There's a lot of emotions, and a lot of businesses are struggling," trustee John Kavouris said. "But I asked myself if CVS was already selling liquor and someone else came in... I don't see how we would be able to deny that [permit]."
Mayor Michael Kelly said he feels it is not in the village's best interest to have more liquor stores downtown.
"At some point, how many liquor licenses do we give out? Where does it stop?"
Trustees philosophized on capitalism and seemed to agree that it's up to the customers to decide which businesses they want to support. "We just can't legislate prosperity; we have to vote with our dollars," Bormann said.
The CVS at 101 Bartlett Plaza, near the intersection of Devon Avenue and Main Street, was approved to sell beer, wine and liquor. CVS plans to have one 16-foot-long aisle for wine and liquor, with warm beer at the end caps. Four existing coolers would contain refrigerated beer.
The Walgreens at 891 S. Route 59 was approved to sell beer and wine only, with plans to use 20 feet of shelving for warm beer and wine and two coolers of refrigerated beer and wine. No hard liquor will be sold.
Walgreens had a Bartlett liquor license to sell packaged liquor until 1999, around the time that most Walgreens stores in the Chicagoland area stopped selling alcohol, officials said.
A petition with nearly 200 signatures of residents who say they "oppose the addition of liquor to the downtown Bartlett CVS store," was submitted to theboard, along with several letters from community residents warning of possible trouble, such as underage drinking, drinking and driving, and the financial losses of local businesses, to name a few.