Liquor store moves into Hannaford

Author: Megan O'Keefe

Looking for the liquor store? Middlebury's sole Vermont State Liquor store, which was previously owned and operated by Andrew McCabe '83 at 198 Court Street, reopened for business inside of Hannaford Superstore late last month.

The grocery chain acquired McCabe's business and rights to "The Middlebury Wine Company" name after obtaining approval from the state of Vermont to operate an authorized liquor outlet earlier this year. According to Hannaford Assistant Store Manager Ben Theriault, however, the insertion of an independent liquor store inside of the supermarket was a set-up envisioned even before the store's opening in September 2004.

While Vermont state law dictates that liquor can be distributed only from independent, state-authorized stores, Hannaford has managed to offer customers in Vermont the convenience of buying alcohol alongside their groceries by establishing independent state liquor stores in segregated spaces within their supermarkets.

Hannaford also operates Vermont State Liquor stores inside of its Williston, Vt. and Rutland, Vt. supermarkets.

While Theriault noted that the liquor stores in Hannaford's Rutland and Williston branches are positioned outside of the grocery area, the need to work within the footprint of the Ames store when modeling Middlebury's Hannaford dictated the placement of the liquor store near the supermarket's center.

According to Theriault, Hannaford does not earn profits from the sale of the liquor because "all of the product is owned by the state." Instead, the store receives a small percentage of the sales that Theriault quantified as "enough to recoup our payroll."

Since the liquor store's opening Theriault has observed positive growth in overall sales in the store. "We have seen a slight increase in business with some new traffic from people looking for spirits," he said.

Because the state of Vermont oversees purchasing for all Vermont State Liquor stores, customers should expect to find the same selection of hard alcohol in the Hannaford-based liquor store that they found at McCabe's Middlebury Wine Company.

Wine and beer sales are not regulated by the state through authorized liquor stores and these types of beverages are more readily available in Middlebury.

McCabe, who had operated the Middlebury Wine Company for four and a half years, still owns and operates Vergennes Wine and Beverage Inc. McCabe has owned the Vergennes liquor store for about 10 years.

He said he took advantage of Hannaford's offer to pay him "what the [Middlebury] store was worth" in order to spend more time with his family. "Going forward I will be able to pick up my children every day after school - to me that is very attractive. And now I will be able to coach soccer two seasons a year," said McCabe.

McCabe said he thinks he "will retain the building" at 198 Court Street where the Middlebury Wine Company once operated. When McCabe was a student at Middlebury College, the building - a bowling alley then - was the site of his first date with his wife, who was a first-year living in Stewart Hall at the time. McCabe said, "The only immediate plan [for the building] is to put chicken wire over the back windows and play soccer there for my son's birthday party."