Hopefuls hear liquor pitch in Bend

Published 9:30 pm Thursday, June 15, 2017

Jennifer Toomey, co-owner, with her husband, Jered Toomey, of the one liquor store in Madras, is thinking a second location somewhere in the vicinity of Terrebonne might be a good idea, she said Wednesday.

“In between Crooked River Ranch and Terrebonne,” Toomey said, “somewhere in that gap.”

She and 22 others turned up at the Downtown Bend Public Library for an hour-long presentation by officials of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission on the third phase of the statewide push to increase the number of liquor stores. The OLCC plans to create about 10 more stores in 14 counties in Central and Eastern Oregon. The deadline for applications is July 31, with contracts to be awarded by November.

“Customer convenience is a big part of why we’re doing this,” said Brian Flemming, OLCC retail services director.

The average distance between liquor stores is almost 16 miles in that 14-county area, he said. Plus, the creation of new liquor stores has not kept pace with population growth in Oregon, Flemming said.

“Thirty years ago, there was one liquor store for every 12,000 Oregonians,” he said. Today, that ratio is about one store for every 16,000 residents.

The push to open more liquor stores began in the Portland metro area in 2015. The OLCC fielded 48 applications, from which 13 were finally approved by the commission, Flemming said.

During this application period, the agency is welcoming mixed-use business proposals, whether from grocery store chains, as part of convenience stores, hardware stores, delicatessens or sporting goods stores. Each application will be reviewed according to the viability of its accompanying business plan, financial strength, local demand and other factors, including proximity to existing liquor stores. Bend already has four.

“There is no intention to put up liquor stores all over the state,” said Graham Anderson, district manager of the OLCC retail services division, “or to impact existing stores.”

Liquor merchants are actually state contractors that sell the state-owned inventory of distilled spirits for a commission, as opposed to license holders who are permitted to serve drinks. A bar owner, with limited exceptions, may not be a liquor contractor.

Previously, liquor contractors could not have more than two store locations. That stipulation is lifted this time around. Successful applicants must also pass a criminal background check, Flemming said, although in his experience no applicant has ever failed.

“This (liquor) is the state’s asset, and we take that very, very seriously,” he said.

After the presentation, Kadi Driver, of Bend, said she’s planning to submit an application. She declined to say where, except to say somewhere in Bend. And although she’s worked around alcohol in the past, she had no experience running her own liquor store.

“I noticed a need for it about a year ago,” Driver said. “I was grocery shopping, and it was going to be a second trip. If I need it, I’m sure others do, too.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com

For more information on the OLCC open recruitment process, go online to www.oregon.gov/olcc/LIQUORSTORES/Pages/Retail_Expansion