Wine Barrel: new liquor in the old Santander Bank building

CapnMarko said:

mbaldwin said:
How does a liquor store selling legal beverages send any message to young children?

Snapchat?

Brilliant.

Also, just as an aside, isn't pretty much every neighborhood in Maplewood/South Orange a family-oriented neighborhood with young children?

I strongly suggest that instead of a liquor store, they should open an apiary, to educate the local residents that bees are not attracted to honey- rather, they produce honey.

By their logic, prospective liquor store owners should cruise around and select locations based on where they see groups of criminals hanging out

I live a block from Springfield Ave. and love that the area is getting a selection of stores that allow me to shop locally, driving and parking downtown sucks. This sounds more like a wine library type of place, which I could not be happier with.

Despite what some may think, folks on my side of town drink more than just 40oz.

Unfortunately, it seems like it's mainly folks on your side of town who are the only ones who think so.

I am excited. A liquor store with easy parking in convenient location and I can run across the street for perogies!

cmarym said:
I am excited. A liquor store with easy parking in convenient location and I can run across the street for perogies!

Perhaps some of the restaurants near will see increased business from BYOB patrons or just be seen by people that come on over to Springfield Ave to check out Wine Barrel's beer selection or wine prices

Actually no. Not every protest needs to be taken seriously. Poorly reasoned protests that aren't supported with facts, represented by a small fringe minority don't deserve to be take seriously. The truth is not there.

icdart said:
Why would anyone criticize a group who reside in the neighborhood and do not want a liquor store in their neighborhood?
Not worded the way you want ? Listen to their opposition and maybe the truth is there ...maybe just maybe their sensibilities have a foundation even if you do not agree.The language may not be as sophisticated as yours would be but their points are to be well taken ..they do not want a liquor store in the neighborhood they have chosen to live in to raise their families
They do not want a store that they believe works against their values ..they may be correct . How about listening or helping ? Seems they want a family oriented business in their midst ....not one that they see as harmful to the values they hold.

let's hold the phones on comparing it to the wine library

.

So a liquor store is okay when we want to buy wine or booze for our block party, backyard bbq, school fundraiser, or Xmas party? But not when someone wants to open one on Springfield Avenue?

Chances are, it will be more of a basic liquor store...if its something better, then that would be great. Unless the owner is part of a consortium, his pricing will already be behind the curve of a Wine Library or Gary's or bigger chains. But convenience and service are two ways to compete with that. The other would be a commitment to bring in stock that is different than most of the other establishments have, such as what has happened with the Village Wine Shop, because small players cant compete against the big players on price with the more standard and better known names. That all said, it sounds like it will be a cool setting for a store, and good use of the space. Customers help dictate what a store carries by showing what it is they are interested in buying but just as a restaurant shouldn't be reviewed in its first six months, a store like this needs time to find its niche too.

Full disclosure: On general principle, I take the opposite view of any NIMBY group, no matter what the subject is.

#1 There are a lot of young families with children on our street (walking distance from our old bank). All of the parents that we know, enjoy a responsible beer or glass of wine from time to time.

#2 We already have one retail beer/wine/liquor store in the area (Maplecheck), though they have a very limited selection. A dedicated store with broader selection would be an improvement/healthy competition.

Thus, the 'family' argument holds no water. Feel free to try again.

On behalf of my neighbors on Courter Avenue, even though I've discussed this with none of them, I am certain we can get more names in support of this liquor store than the FB petition. In fact, I think I could get 50 willing to guarantee at least weekly visits to said store, from my block alone. Heck, my block alone can guarantee profitability.

How much is this merchant investing to purchase the license (who did he buy it from) and how much will he be spending on renovations and the like?

Did he also buy the building or just lease it?

Chances are that this person is prepared to invest a lot of money (my guess without facts is around $1 million maybe more) to make a successful business in Maplewood on Springfield Avenue.

Its not every day that this takes place, and he will have a huge reason to make this successful.

I wish him (or her) the best of luck.

For those of you that are opposed, we currently have two empty banks at that intersection. What do you propose for those buildings? And please be realistic, we aren't getting a Gap.

hankzona said:
Chances are, it will be more of a basic liquor store...if its something better, then that would be great. Unless the owner is part of a consortium, his pricing will already be behind the curve of a Wine Library or Gary's or bigger chains. But convenience and service are two ways to compete with that. The other would be a commitment to bring in stock that is different than most of the other establishments have, such as what has happened with the Village Wine Shop, because small players cant compete against the big players on price with the more standard and better known names. That all said, it sounds like it will be a cool setting for a store, and good use of the space. Customers help dictate what a store carries by showing what it is they are interested in buying but just as a restaurant shouldn't be reviewed in its first six months, a store like this needs time to find its niche too.

I got the impression that he is part of a consortium ( maybe BuyRite)and already owns another liquor store elsewhere in Jersey. I think the store won't be as fancy as Wine Library with their gourmet food store but will be a good size with convenient parking and if responsive to needs of the community will do well

yahooyahoo said:
For those of you that are opposed, we currently have two empty banks at that intersection. What do you propose for those buildings? And please be realistic, we aren't getting a Gap.

Isn't one of them a Karate Studio?

The former B of A is currently being used by some type of martial arts school.

joan_crystal said:
The former B of A is currently being used by some type of martial arts school.

Which will keep the criminal boozehound element in check.

mrincredible said:

joan_crystal said:
The former B of A is currently being used by some type of martial arts school.

Which will keep the criminal boozehound element in check.

That's a partnership opportunity if I've ever heard one

mrincredible said:

joan_crystal said:
The former B of A is currently being used by some type of martial arts school.

Which will keep the criminal boozehound element in check.

Ha! (Stupid idevice... forgot the space.)

Lawn Signs Available.......

Keep Springfield Avenue Springfield Avenue

Let's Get the Santander Bank Site Right

A(nother) Vacant Building is Just What Maplewood Needs

I just had a couple craft beers in Panama City Beach and all I could think of was this thread. 65 craft beers on tap. That's what this place or the Village needs.

Will the drive thru remain in operation?

In the comments section of the Maplewodian article on this topic:

"Currently there are two liquor stores which are two blocks away on Springfield Avenue, and there are two wine stores located in Maplewood Village"
(http://joestrupp.blogspot.com/2015/08/liquor-store-plan-for-former-bank-site.html?m=1)

The existing shops on Springfield sell both wine and hard liquor, as do the shops in the Village. Why are the ones on Springfield "liquor stores" and the ones in town "wine shops?"

Did I miss something?

onadare,

I would think that it's no more than editorial license.

Personally, it took a while for me to get used to the concept that, in New Jersey, grocery stores and delis didn't sell beer; but liquor stores sold bread and milk.

TomR

BrickPig said:

ArchBroad said:
We only want happy things.

A nice wine store with a good selection of craft beers very near to my home would definitely be a happy thing.

Don't you know that Craft beers attract crime like bees to honey?

Now if they add rustic crackers and artisanal cheeses, this town better prepare for a crime wave.

Can someone share the list of 40 protesters? While the list is about 35 more than the number of people that oppose the post office redevelopment, I am always curious who amongst us opposes nice wine, beer and cheese shops.

CapnMarko said:

mbaldwin said:
How does a liquor store selling legal beverages send any message to young children?

Snapchat?

BTW this was very funny

TL, you are onto something. Besides being a marihuana distribution center, the Large Scale aspect will allow room for a methadone clinic.