Small business group fights Wegmans alcohol bid
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The first Wegmans Supermarket in Massachusetts, at Northborough Crossing.
A trade association for restaurants and business owners is lining up against a bill that would allow Wegmans to serve alcohol at its Northborough Crossing store.
“Restaurants and businesses didn’t know, when they built stores, signed leases, and hired people, that this rule change would happen,” Dave Andelman, Restaurant and Business Alliance president, said in a statement. “We’re concerned that this rule change will damage small, local restaurant and liquor stores who do not have this same opportunity.”
The Allston-based Alliance encouraged legislators to speak with businesses in their districts before they decide on a bill that would allow Wegmans to both sell and serve alcohol in a single location, which is currently barred by the commonwealth. The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton.
Wegmans would serve the wine, beer and spirits in a 300-seat café that’s physically segregated on one side of the store.
The Rochester, N.Y.-based supermarket chain is able to serve alcohol in other states where they have stores. Those states include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
Wegmans emphasized that the bill would simply give municipalities the power, on a case-by-case basis, to exempt businesses from the state law. They said their business model relies on a larger restaurant operation than other supermarkets do.
“We aren’t out to hurt anyone’s business,” spokeswoman Jo Natale said in a statement. “We just want our customers to be able to have a glass of wine or beer when they are having a meal in our café.”
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