Eden Prairie's smallest liquor store will expand to increase sales

The City Council voted to move the city's least profitable municipal store to a bigger space.

By LAURIE BLAKE, Star Tribune

Last update: September 2, 2009 - 9:37 PM

Eden Prairie will again expand its municipal liquor store operations in hopes of boosting sales by $1.2 million over the next 10 years.

By a 3-2 vote, the City Council has decided to move the smallest and least profitable of the city's three municipal liquor stores to a larger, more prominent space next to Rainbow Foods in Prairie View Shopping Center. But it will be an 8,000-square-foot store instead of the nearly 9,500-square-foot space originally proposed.

The new Prairie View Liquor Store will open in January at the spot formerly occupied by Snyder's Drug, moving from a smaller, less visible space in the same shopping center.

The city will lease 8,000 square feet of the 9,498 square feet available. Initially, city manager Scott Neal recommended that the city lease the entire space, but several council members balked at more than doubling the current store space.

Council Members Brad Aho, Ron Case and Kathy Nelson voted in favor of moving to the 8,000-square-foot store while Mayor Phil Young and Council Member Jon Duckstad opposed the move during a council meeting Tuesday night.

The existing store will remain open in its current location until the larger store is ready to open in January.

The city will spend an estimated $400,000 to outfit the new space as a liquor store and will pay nearly $148,000 a year for rent, property taxes and maintenance. That's about $18,000 a year less than the city would have paid for the larger space it originally considered renting.

Aho said an 8,000-square-foot space is similar in size to the city's other two stores, which were previously expanded.

"It is the right feel in terms of sizing,'' he said. "We are getting an 8,000-square-foot store for a very small percentage increase over the size of the 4,200-square-foot store.

"I believe it is a good investment of our funds. Whether or not the city should be involved in liquor stores -- that is a question for another day.''

Duckstad questioned whether the larger store will produce more sales volume. "If we enlarge this last liquor store like we did the first two, it probably would generate more wine sales. But it might just take wine sales away from the other two we have enlarged. I am still not persuaded that the change in the long run is in the best interest of the taxpayers.''

Neal said a market analysis indicates the Prairie View store has room to increase sales.

Over 10 years, gross sales are forecast to be $1.2 million higher in the new location, said city finance manager Sue Kotchevar.

Last year, the Prairie View store grossed $2.7 million compared with $5 million and $3 million at the city's other two stores, which are located next to Cub Foods in the Eden Prairie Center mall area and next to Kowalski's Market at Hwy. 5 and Eden Prairie Road.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711

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