Two local convenience stores and a grocery store are planning to sell alcohol, joining other businesses in making the beverage a more common sight across the region.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced this week that Country Fair was the top bidder of a restaurant liquor license in McKean County, Nittany Oil Company Inc. in Potter County and Ridgway Foods in Elk County.
Country Fair, which has locations in Kane and Bradford, bid $80,000, for a license from Eldred Township; Nittany Oil Company Inc., which has a Nittany MinitMart in Galeton, bid $41,103 on a license from Coudersport; and Ridgway Foods, which has a grocery store in Ridgway, bid $34,501 on a license from St. Marys.
Steve Cleveland, owner of Elk County Foods, said the Ridgway grocery store will sell alcohol, but he doesn’t have a timeframe yet. Getting the Ridgway store ready will take some time, he said.
Officials from Country Fair and Nittany MinitMart did not immediately return calls seeking comment by press time Friday.
No valid bid was received for a liquor license in Portage Township, Cameron County.
The sixth restaurant license auction authorized by Act 39 of 2016 included licenses in 25 counties, with 19 licenses receiving valid bids. On average, the winning bid totalled $97,928.
“Top bidders have 14 days from the date of each Notice of Selection to remit full bid payment to the PLCB,” Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board officials said in a statement. “If bid payment is not received within two weeks of auction award, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to remit its full bid payment.”
Winners of the auction have six months from the issuance of the notice of selection to file a license application with the control board. The money will be kept in escrow by the PLCB, pending approval of the license application.
Across McKean County, alcohol is already available at convenience stores. Beer, malt beverages and bottles of wine are sold at Sheetz on the corner in Foster Brook. Crosby’s-Foster Brook near the Bradford Mall sells beer.
Plans also call for the Sheetz in Port Allegany and the one being planned for Lantz Corners to sell alcohol. Nittany MinitMart in Lantz Corners also has a license pending to sell alcohol as does Acorn Markets in Galeton.
The Johnsonburg location of Elk County Foods will sell wine and beer in about four to six weeks, Cleveland said.
All told, revenue generated by the auction has resulted in $21.5 million for fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18, while $4 million is in escrow, pending license approvals.
