Crystal Stump (owner and CEO of ABC Consulting and former Virginia ABC Special Agent from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority) talks about a couple different types of licenses that people get confused: the grocery-store license, the gourmet license and the convenience-store license.
Pour yourself a drink; you’re going to need it!
I hope this video helps you decide which license is the right one for you: the grocery-store license, the gourmet-shop license and the convenience-store license. There are differences and it is important to apply for the right license. And as Crystal discusses in the video Three Reasons that Applications get Denied, people apply for the wrong license type and the license gets held up or the business has to start the process over again.
When most people think of a Convenience Store, most people think of the gas-station type of Convenience Store, but in the eyes of the VA ABC Authority, a Convenience Store is a location inside of another permanent business. (Such as in a hotel, an office building, or another structure). And this is important — a Convenience Store is required to sell grocery items. Wine and Beer can be sold in a “Convenience Store” license, when the business sells $2,000 a month in grocery-edible items – and you need to keep an inventory of $2,000 of grocery-store and edible items (such as milk, eggs, cheese, cooking oil, flour, sugar, spices, and canned food). You need to keep a wide range of items to assure your license is approved and maintain that inventory to stay compliant.
The Grocery Store license is the most typical type of license for retail. This license type includes mini marts, chain grocery stores, neighborhood groceries and what we think of as convenience stores and gas stations. There are two types of licenses can either be approved: Wine and Beer Off or just Beer Off. The qualifications are different. You have to do $2,000 in sales and maintain the same $2,000 of inventory of edible grocery items. If you think you can only sell $1,000 in grocery sales, apply for the Beer Off license. We are here to help walk you through which to apply for or how to decide what grocery items to stock of how to maintain records for the VA ABC Authority – as you will need to prove these sales each month, too. Because that first six months, you’ll need to prove those $1,000 each month before your license becomes permanent.
The next type of license I want to discuss is the Gourmet-Shop license. This is a pretty popular license type – this can be approved in a convenience store location or a grocery store location because of the fact that it allows them to sell Growlers to go, which is pretty neat! Or if you want to do tastings, the Gourmet License is the choice. The Gourmet-Shop License requires an AVERAGE of $1,000 of grocery-items monthly. You don’t have to hit that $1,000 in sales or inventory, each and every month. The actual wording of that definition of the license is as follows:
It means an establishment provides with adequate inventory, shelving and storage facilities, where, in consideration of payment, substantial amounts of domestic and imported wines and beers of various types and sizes and related products, such as cheese and gourmet foods are habitually furnished to persons.
It is important for you to know that in order to qualify of this license, you must have available for sale domestic and important beers and imported cheeses and gourmet food (potato chips, peanuts, baked goods, homemade specialty item, meats and cheeses). We can help talk you through this to figure out which license is going to give you the most freedom to be yourself and sell what you want to sell. That may feel daunting, but we’ve been doing this for many years and are very familiar with the wording and the law.
If you do go through this process of licensing, you MUST get trained. It is imperative! Our training is called TOAST VA® – and we’re quite serious when we say that it is necessary for you to be trained and get your staff trained. There is another video that I have and that is about How to Get Your ABC License Revoked. But our training only costs $29.99 and you have to be knowledgeable in your industry. This is such a small fee. Your staff has to be trained. If you are trained but your staff isn’t, that means you needs to be at the business all the time. How much help are you going to be, if you aren’t there to answer all the questions? Everyone should be trained on how to serve and be familiar with how NOT to get your license revoked and how to be compliant and what happens if you aren’t. The penalties are HUGE – not just for you but for your employees, too. We’re talking thousands in fines, jail time for you and your employee and time that your business is shut down. This isn’t something to take lightly or look up on the internet. Make sure everyone you hire is trained BEFORE they start to work for you — or you are setting them up for failure. And mistakes will cost you money and it could cost them a criminal record. We have a video on that, too.
I hope you find these videos informative and interesting. We are continually updating our YouTube channel with new regulations, types of license types and the ins and outs of staying compliant. Please subscribe! If you DO find this video educational and informative, please give us a Thumbs Up! This channel is perfect for future and current ABC licensees. Each week, we publish a new video discussing different license types, compliance, regulations and trainings available for your business. Being compliant will save you money – which is the whole purpose of this consulting business – to keep you compliant, save you money and educate you about the ABC regulations in the state of Virginia. I do have other videos about how to apply for a license, what else ABC Consulting can do if you use us to put together your application (if you use us, it takes us about 45 days to get our clients licensed, with a 30-day objection period). Forty-five days gives us plenty of time to make sure that your business qualifies and that you are applying for the correct license. If you aren’t in the state of Virginia, we can help with Federal licenses. If you only need a one-day license for your wedding or non-profit event, we can help you get licensed for that, too. Thanks for watching; Cheers! 800-785-0161
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