Wellesley Considers Allowing Retail Wine Sales

Monday, January 28, 2013

According to this article in The Boston Globe, our fair Wellesley may consider allowing retail alcohol sales for the first time.

A petition put forth by the folks who own Fells Market suggests they'd like to see beer and wine sales allowed at grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Roche Bros. I absolutely love Fells Market and think it would be great if they were allowed to sell beer and wine.

I visited Fells Market this past weekend to grab a few sandwiches and chatted with Peter Katsikaris briefly - his family owns the store. If you haven't been to Fells and live in the area it's definitely worth a stop. It's classic old school Wellesley. When we were looking for houses in the neighborhood realtors would mention it as one of the reasons to buy a house nearby. At the time it seemed a little ridiculous to base a house purchase on a nearby grocery store but there's something special about the place I enjoy every time I visit.

So I'm fully supportive of beer and wine sales at Fells. And at Whole Foods and Roche Bros too. The timing of this proposal coincides nicely with new policies at the state level which allow retailers to hold more licenses in total than they were previously allowed. The article doesn't get into whether standalone liquor stores are included in the petition but I'd be in favor of those too - if they're done right.

Like I mentioned in this opinion piece on The Swellesley Report back in early 2012 a high quality boutique wine shop could totally be an asset to the town.

As an example of what I have in mind when I say that, have a look at renderings I recently received from Edward Spivak. He's one of the retailers going for a license in neighboring Needham. Here's what he has in mind for his proposed Craft Liquors. Gorgeous, right?

Rendering of proposed new store in Needham: Craft Liquors
(click to enlarge)


I'd love to see a couple retailers like this in Wellesley.

What do you think?

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