Liquor Stores Oppose Newcomer’s Move to Kingston
A battle over liquor and wine sales has erupted in Crown Heights, pitting established businesses against a newcomer, and forcing the city’s liquor board to decide who is correct about Orthodox Jews’ alcohol shopping habits.
When Menachem Reich received approval in March to open the ‘Responsible Liquor’ store adjacent to the vacated Fish Fish and Cannoli restaurant on Empire Blvd. no one seemed to mind. His license application was approved at a brief hearing without any opposition from other shops, and he was open for business in time for Pesach.
But after encountering difficulties with his Empire Blvd. location, including water leaks from the floor above his store and the lack of parking, he attempted to have his store moved to the Kingston Ave. site of the old ‘Albany’ Bake Shop – at which point the established businesses cried foul.
At the hearing with the New York City liquor board, several local liquor shops, among them Eber’s Liquor, Tian Bao Liquors Inc. and Tung Cheng Liquors Co., showed up and expressed concern with the new business.
At question was the New York State code which stipulates that a new liquor establishment cannot open within a certain distance from an existing one. Reich position was that although there are sufficient liquor stores within the vicinity, Eber’s essentially has a monopoly over the Crown Heights Jewish community, because Jews will only buy wine and liquor from a 100% kosher Jewish venue.
The other liquor shops disputed this by pointing out that about 60% of items for sale in the non-Jewish liquor stores are Kosher, and that Jewish people do often come in to their stores. But Mr. Reich pointed out that as a matter of convenience most will only shop in a store that only carries kosher products, so that they don’t have to inquire as to the kosher status of each item.
Additionally, since the Crown Heights community tripled in size since Eber’s opened, Mr. Reich argued, two kosher liquor stores could exist side by side in the community without either one going out of business. Eber’s disputed this point by revealing their sales records and showing that current sales would not be adequate to keep two establishments afloat.
We reached out to Eber’s for comment, and they said that while Reich has every right to compete fairly along with all the other businesses, and consumers have a right to choose where they will shop, he doesn’t have a right to engage in “predatory pricing” – i.e. selling at or below cost in order to gain market share.
This accusation was supported by Reich’s current landlord. He testified at the hearing that although Reich has been selling moderately well, he has been late on his rent payments, showing that his prices were deflated solely for the purpose of gaining market share and not for earning profit.
We then contacted Menachem Reich, and he responded that the reason he has been withholding rent is because the landlord has been shortcoming on basic services for the premises, such as the failure to fix a leak from upstairs, which is one of the reasons he is trying to move to Kingston in the first place.
“We are providing a tremendous service for and convenience for the community, a new kosher wine store is something that the overwhelming majority of the Crown Heights community has wanted for many years,” he said. “The feedback we received was very positive, and we look forward to continuing to do business for the good of the community.”
After hearing from both sides, the board voted to deny Mr. Reich’s application by a 1-1 vote (a tied vote at the board counts as a rejection), forcing Mr. Reich to remain at his current Empire Blvd. location. Mr. Reich and his landlord have since reconciled and agreed upon a satisfactory resolution to their dispute.
