Crystal Stump (owner and CEO of ABC Consulting and former Virginia ABC Special Agent from the Alcoholic Beverage Authority) explains how to get an alcohol license for a convenience store or a grocery store, in Virginia!
Pour yourself a drink; you’re going to need it!
If you are watching this channel because you want to know how to sell alcohol, to go, from your convenience store, you are in the right place. If you are already a Virginia licensee, we still suggest that you subscribe to our YouTube channel, because we come out with new videos, each week, so that you understand how to navigate the VA ABC and their regulations. Our hope is that this video can save you a lot of money, time and maybe even a criminal record!
We use the language (at ABC Consulting) convenience store and grocery store to mean the same thing, but to the VA ABC Authority, they are very different things!
A convenience store, in the eyes of the VA ABC Authority, is a business that is inside a permanent structure (such as an office building with a store on the lower level). They must get a Wine and Beer license and they must do $2,000 a month in sales, to qualify for that license.
Today, we’ll focus on an alcohol license for a grocery store. More than likely, if you are wanting to open a gas station or what most people refer to as a convenience store, you are going to want an alcohol license for a grocery store.
Technically, in the eyes of the ABC, you are a grocery store, if you are a grocery store, what most people call a convenience store or a gas station. So, let’s talk about rules and technicalities:
- If you want to sell beer or wine up until midnight, you can do this.
- You can sell cases of beer or bottles of wine – as long as they are closed container.
- All alcohol is sold for off-premises consumption.
You must maintain an inventory of $2,000 of grocery items (and you must sell $2,000 a month of those grocery items) in order to maintain your grocery story license. Grocery items mean edible items: eggs, milk, cheese, bread, meats, flour, sugar, cooking oil, and canned food. A 20-ounce soda or individually-wrapped bubble gum is not considered bulk-edible item. I consider it necessary to keep a minimum of $1,000 of grocery items in stock (liters of soda, 1/2 gallon of milk, etc., instead of just offering individual-consumption items). Keep that inventory in mind as you are preparing for your VA ABC Authority inspection.
Make sure your reporting is showing a category of Bulk-Edible Items to prove your $2,000 of food sales.
If you want to sell growlers, you need a gourmet-shop license., because a grocery-store licensee isn’t allowed to give samples of wine or beer. If you wanted to give samples, you’ll need to get a gourmet-shop license. If you are solely want to sell beer & wine for off-premises consumption, a grocery-store license will be fine.
If you only want to sell beer, it helps counter those food-sale requirements. You only have to sell $1,000 worth of bulk-edible food items in order to maintain your license and you would only have to maintain a $1,000 inventory of grocery items. Later on, if you want to add wine sales to your license, you’ll have to reapply for a Wine & Beer license. Don’t just start selling wine, without having the correct license type. You have to reapply in order to start selling wine, also.
Bottom line: there are two different licenses and two different premises types.
- Beer Off Premises and Wine & Beer Off Premises
- Grocery License or Convenience Store License
Understanding the difference in those requirements will help you apply for the correct license and prepare for your final inspection. VA ABC Authority will look at your inventory, they’ll look at your receipts for your inventory, and you have to sell $2,000 worth of sales of bulk edible items.
Our team can help – we can help figure out the reporting, with you. We can offer advice to help you stay compliant and keep compliant — this is why we’re in business. Our consultants help walk you through the process and if you do not have the right attention to detail or are unfamiliar with state applications – or if you cannot afford any hold-ups in processing because of improper wording or missing attachments – it makes so much sense to hire us. Hire us to ensure quick and painless licensing. If you plan to Do It Yourself, know the laws and regulations and what you can and cannot do – or have the right team on your side. It is so much easier to stay out of trouble if you know what the VA ABC Authority expects. Start off on the right foot with the VA ABC Authority – do everything the right way, take the steps in the right order and make sure all applications are filled out correctly the first time and that you’re ready for inspections. Let’s talk: 800-785-0161
ABC Consulting was created in 2009 after my retirement from the VA Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement Division, to help businesses such as yours to run a successful and compliant business. In fact, ABC Consulting was created because of my expertise with alcohol regulation. This business provides as much help and information, as possible, to current and future VA ABC alcohol licensees. If you need an ABC license (or if you want to keep your ABC license), SUBSCRIBE to this channel! If you haven’t subscribed to our channel, please do! And if you are already enjoying this channel, please click the bell notification – so you’ll get notified of new videos. It will also help other people browsing YouTube to find our channel. ABC Consulting’s channel is for anyone unsure of how to navigate ABC regulations or for anyone who needs to know all the steps of the process.
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