News

City ABC board advises against county liquor store

Hendersonville ABC Board members listen during a discussion Wednesday.

By Bill Moss, Published: January 10, 2013

Hendersonville ABC Board members made it three for three on Wednesday when they told the newly formed Henderson County ABC board they did not believe government could make a profit on a sixth liquor store in the county and did not believe a merger would do anything to save money.

The Hendersonville ABC board, which operates three stores and has been in business since 1955, was the third and last local board to meet with the county ABC board and offer an evaluation of the current market and recommendations on whether there's room for more stores.
"The position of this board is that the Hendersonville ABC board finds that different governance would have no benefit in service to the residents of the city or the county, or any financial benefits to the city system, or to public schools, or to the public library, because I don't think you're going to be able to make the profit you think you are," said city ABC board chairman Charlie Byrd. "It's taken this many years, to get where we're at."
The city ABC board has distributed $9.9 million to the city of Hendersonville (50 percent of proceeds), Henderson County (25 percent), the School Board (24 percent) and the county library (1 percent) since it was formed, according to the city ABC board's most recent financial statement.
Officials with the Laurel Park and Fletcher boards also implored the county board to leave things alone. Adding a new package store will not create new drinkers, local and state officials have said, and state regulations on pricing and advertising constrain the ability to boost sales.
The Hendersonville system made a profit of 5.3 percent in the most recent reporting year. Fletcher and Laurel Park had even smaller margins, at 4.5 percent and 2.14 percent. ABC board members and managers of the three systems say the profit margin is so narrow and the restrictions so broad that adding a sixth store could sink one or more of the existing stores. They warn, too, that the Legislature could decide to privatize retail liquor sales.
The Henderson County Board of Commissioners formed the ABC Board after county voters in May approved the sale of liquor countywide in restaurants and state ABC stores. The county board could build an ABC store in the county, subject to state approval, or it could seek a merger with one or more of the three existing ABC systems.
The county board invited all three local systems to meetings over the past three months to get their feedback and suggestions on what to do.
Hendersonville ABC board members and general manager Danny Beddingfield attended Wednesday's meeting.
Board chairman Beau Waddell asked Beddingfield on where, given his long experience managing the Hendersonville stores, the county might put an ABC store.
"The problem is you can't make any money with a liquor store in the county," he said. "Bob says I'll be there every morning to get a bottle of Canadian Mist. Bob won't support a liquor store. It takes a lot of people to support a liquor store. When we opened in 1960 we were the only game in town. If you didn't buy it here you went to Buncombe County. Now there's five liquor stores in this county. How many liquor stores can we support in Henderson County? ... If you don't do a million dollars a year, you're not going to pay for a liquor store."
For the first time, ABC Board chairman Beau Waddell introduced the idea of the county building a store and having city ABC personnel run it under a contract. He mentioned Mills River as a location, although the county board has made clear that it is still exploring all possible options, including doing nothing.

Waddell also asked Beddingfield how the board chose the location for its new store on Upward Road. The I-26 interchange was critical.

"I don't care how many liquor stores you got, you've only got so many drinkers in Henderson County," Beddingfield said. "We're after South Carolina, we're after Tennessee. We're not after what Fletcher does or what Laurel Park does. We're after South Carolina for additional money for Henderson County, knowing that they close at 7 o'clock, we close at 9... We're getting out-of-state money, that's what it was all about, to generate more money for the city and county."
Byrd, the retired Hendersonville city schools superintendent, said that he was surprised that the 12 ballot questions on the sale and consumption of beer, wine and liquor generated almost no public discussion last spring.
"I thought this community would erupt when they put this ballot out," Byrd said. "I got one call."
Unlike the campaign that created the original Hendersonville ABC store, he said, the 2012 referendum was not tied to any use of the local money.
"Here we sit, without any word from education," Byrd said. "I think I'd be hanging off the ceiling, because it's going to take some money from the public schools, unless your board decides it's going to make some distribution. What happens to the Senate bill. Are we going to stay with this same formula? Are you going to amend it?"