Walmart looks for expansion into Pa. alcohol sales in Fayette

Walmart is looking to begin selling alcoholic beverages in Fayette County, a first for the retail giant in Pennsylvania.

The chain submitted a winning bid of $65,000 for an expired restaurant liquor license in Redstone Township — one of 62 offers received from various bidders for 22 such licenses in municipalities across the state, according to results of an auction released last week by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

“We want Walmart customers in Fayette County to save money so they can live better,” said Jason Klipa, the company’s director of public affairs and government relations in Pennsylvania. “We are excited to take this first step toward giving them a convenient and affordable way to buy beer and wine.”

If Walmart’s winning bid develops into an approved license, it would join a growing field of food retailers in Southwestern Pennsylvania that are expanding into beer and wine sales. The Sheetz convenience store chain and Giant Eagle supermarkets recently have been active in adding alcohol sales at many of their locations.

Sheetz sells beer at more than 100 locations in Pennsylvania and five other states. In the recent auction, it was the top bidder for four additional licenses — in Altoona and in Clearfield, Huntingdon and Venango counties — with offers totaling $318,100.

Giant Eagle holds restaurant liquor licenses for more than 60 of its stores in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

In addition to paying the full amount of its bid into an escrow account within 14 days, Walmart will have to obtain local government approval if it wants to use its proposed Fayette license at its Supercenter in South Union Township.

Licenses approved through the auction may be transferred between municipalities in the same county, if certain requirements are met, according to PLCB spokesman Shawn Kelly. As is the case in South Union, the locally elected governing body in the receiving municipality must act at a public meeting to approve the transfer if the community is at or above its state-mandated quota for retail liquor licenses.

According to PLCB online records, South Union has 21 active restaurant liquor licenses, more than exceeding its limit of three for all retail licenses. The state quota, last amended in 1990, limits licenses to one per 3,000 residents per municipality, and South Union had a population of 10,681, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

“Not all license types count toward the quota,” Kelly said, but restaurant licenses do.

Each auction winner has six months to file a license application with the PLCB, with bid amounts held in escrow pending license approval.

To meet requirements of a restaurant license, an applicant must set aside at least 400 square feet with seating where food can be served to at least 30 people. Sales of malt beverages are limited to 192 fluid ounces per transaction. That amounts to 16 12-ounce beers.

If Walmart intends to offer wine, as well as beer, in Fayette County, it would need to also obtain an expanded permit for selling up to 3 liters of wine-to-go per transaction. There is an initial $2,000 permit fee and an annual renewal fee equaling 2% of the cost of wine purchased from the PLCB for off-premises consumption.

North Park Lounge wins St. Clair license

The operator of three North Park Lounge restaurants in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties submitted a winning $35,500 bid for an expired liquor license in St. Clair Township, the sole license that was up for auction in Westmoreland.

“The North Park Lounge plans to open a large Halloween and Christmas pop-up bar,” owner Mark Baranowksi said via email. He said his real estate agent is “looking for property in St. Clair Township and throughout Westmoreland County for us.”

NPL Management operates North Park Lounge locations in Murrysville, McCandless and Lawrenceville. According to its website, the company “strives to supply a family-friendly environment at all of its restaurant locations as well as an upbeat, fun-filled ambiance at all of its bar locations.”

The PLCB’s eighth auction of expired restaurant licenses garnered top bids totaling more than $1.9 million. The winning bids announced last week ranged from $28,888, for a license in Ridgway, Elk County, to $276,100, for a license in Middletown Township, Bucks County. The average winning bid was $95,255.

Convenience store chain Wawa bid $346,714 for two licenses in Philadelphia and Middletown Township, Delaware County.

There were no valid bids received for one license each in Dauphin, Monroe and Sullivan counties.