Athens City Council appears to have no qualms about Kroger applying for D5 and D6 liquor licenses for its East State Street location, according to a Post article published Thursday. Kroger wants to be able to sell beer, wine and low-proof liquor for consumption within the store. These licenses would allow the grocery store to serve alcohol — in addition to selling it for carryout, as they do now — and they would open the door to the possibility of an in-store bar.
Council wasn’t quite as content with Chipotle asking for its own D5 license for its Court Street location.
The governing body called for a public hearing ahead of a decision from the Ohio Department of Commerce, in addition to asking Athens Law Director Pat Lang’s office to prepare an objection to Chipotle’s bid.
What’s the difference between those two applications? One clear difference is that one location is easily accessible for student foot traffic and the other is not.
In a Post report from Dec. 1, Jennifer Cochran, D-at large, was concerned about Chipotle being able to serve liquor until 2:30 a.m. In Thursday’s story, Chris Fahl, D-4th ward, who opposed Chipotle’s license, said Kroger’s request was viewed in a better light because the grocery store was just asking to serve more alcohol during wine tastings.
“It’s not like they’re going to turn into a bar,” she told a Post reporter.
Yet, the license would allow Kroger to sell alcohol until 2:30 a.m.— and until 11 p.m. on Sundays — and a company spokeswoman said a bar could very well be in the grocery store’s future.
That said, one of the few things separating Chipotle’s and Kroger’s bids is a few miles — and fewer students.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Jim Ryan, managing editor Sara Jerde, opinion editor Xander Zellner and projects editor Allan Smith. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
