Q&A: For Spirited Owner, Transferring License Usurps Residents Wishes [VIDEO]

Photo: Chris Benoit, owner of The Spirited Gourmet in Cushing Square.

You can not tell the tale of bringing alcohol to Belmont without talking about The Spirited Gourmet and the Benoits, as it was Chris and his then wife Elena who were at the forefront of turning Belmont from one of the last “dry” towns in the Commonwealth into one where a residents could buy a beer or bottle of wine within the borders of the “Town of Homes.” 

“My ex-wife and I were responsible for bringing licenses to town,” said Chris Benoit, who worked in high tech before creating stores in Winchester in 2004 and Belmont in 2007. 

“Customers from Belmont would come to our store in Winchester and say, ‘What a great place. I’d be nice to have something like this in Belmont.'” The selectmen visited the store, his ex-wife made a presentation at the 2006 Town Meeting, the town voters in 2007 approved three licenses, and the Benoit’s got the all-alcohol license.

“Pretty straight forward,” he said.

And for the past decade, Benoit has devoted his life to the busy street front store at 448 Common St. in Cushing Square which led the early revitalization of one of Belmont’s four commercial centers.

“We have seen ourselves as being an anchor attracting business to this area. Compare the square today compared to when we first opened, it’s radically different,” he said. “So we kept our promise with the residents to spur economic activity.”

But it has been far from smooth sailing since opening the store.

“I’m here Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., invested a tremendous amount of money as well as my time. I’ve had to use a good chunk of my 401K to get past cash flow issues. It’s terrible because not only is it your retirement, you get penalized for taking the money,” he said.

“But you do what you have to do to stay in business,” said Benoit.

But in the past week, Benoit believes his business and the residents are facing a challenge to the cozy environment of local alcohol sales with the attempt by the owner of The Loading Dock retail store and restaurant to sell his all-alcohol license for $400,000 in compensation to Star Market which is looking to add a 2,000 sq.-ft. “liquor operation” to its Waverley Square store. 

The Board of Selectmen which heard the request on Sept. 19 postponed a possible vote until Oct. 6

“When I first heard about this from one of my managers, I thought he got the details wrong. It just seemed to come out of nowhere,” said Benoit. But it took only a few hours for the Somerville residents to set fingers to keyboard.

In an email letter sent to customers and the public, Benoit wrote a statement he believes reflects the feeling of the majority of residents and business owners in Belmont. 

“Allowing the license transfer to Shaws/Star Market will hurt this business financially and would not be in the spirit of why these licenses were created, for economic development,” said Benoit. (See the complete letter below)

“I’m not a cold-hearted person, and feel for Mr. [Faud] Mukarker [owner of The Loading Dock], but why should current license holders be penalized for his lack of planning and/or financial resources?” wrote Benoit.

It takes a while to build your business and become profitable especially with alcohol sales, and I don’t think the Loading Dock thought he could lose money selling liquor, said Benoit.

“Being successful doesn’t come overnight and just because someone gives you a license,” said Benoit.

Benoit has asked his store’s customers and local businesses and residents who question the transfer to attend Thursday’s Board of Selectmen meeting (7 p.m., Town Hall)

The Belmontonian interviewed Benoit at this store in Cushing Square. 

Q: When you heard about the proposed transfer?

A: The first time I heard about it was Tuesday evening, the day after the meeting. I had no knowledge of this transfer up until then. The town isn’t obligated to inform licensees that this is going on although they are required to post a notice in the ‘paper. I never saw it, and likely the reason is that [the newspaper] don’t typically put it in place where everyone can find it.

Q: And what was your initial reaction?

A: I was not very happy (laughing). When you read that a major supermarket chain wants to take 2,000 sq.-ft. of their space dedicated to a liquor store and invest $2.4 million and they are less than a mile from you, that’s pretty scary as every other license holder.

Q: How would a license at Star Market effect your business?

A: As I said to many people, the issue is that there’s only so much business to be had when you are offering alcohol sales. So there’s a certain financial pie and that pie isn’t getting any bigger for people who shop locally. Let’s say someone from the South Shore were to come by here and say, ‘What a beautiful store’ but they are not coming back because they have something close to them. So when you put something in your backyard, customers are going to be interested and shop there.

I took a hit when a small guy like Art’s Specialties (across Trapelo Road from the Studio Cinema) or when a store opened in Waltham, it’s just more competition in an already saturated market. So at a certain point, the little guys won’t be able to withstand that level of competition and they’ll go out of business while the chains that can sustain it with their financial resources will be the only ones left standing.

Q: What wrong with a transfer? 

A: The whole point of licenses was to promote small businesses. Town Meeting didn’t want chains or liquor stores. That’s why when they were first handed out, we got one, the Craft Beer Cellars got the beer and wine license and Vintages [in Belmont Center] the other wine license. And for that time, the three of us work off one another because we emphasize our differences. So we could co-exist and it worked out very well and we brought a lot to the community. 

Now the town has added Foodies [a three-store chain based in Boston’s South End that is slated to open in the summer of 2017 in the former Filene’s site in Belmont Center] to the mix. You know that will affect Craft Beer’s sales and Vintages was just sold so the original owner saw the writing on the wall. 

I think when Foodies was awarded the license, the board looked at this big empty space since Macy’s moved out which was an eyesore. So putting in a Foodies is sort of economic development, it’s coming at the expense of other license holders within spitting distance of the store. But it’s something where you’re helping to beautify the Town Center and adding value to the residents by giving them another grocery option then just Star or Shaws.  

Q: Do you believe your argument against a license transfer to Star has been made more difficult to make since the town granted one to a small chain in Foodies?

A: When the Loading Dock went to get its license, one of the other applicants was D&L Liquors. Part of the reason it was denied is because it had three liquor stores and wanted a fourth. You said no to a chain once, but the next year when Foodies – while a small chain with three stores, it’s still a chain – comes in gets the license.

Unfortunately, a precedent was set last year by giving Foodies a license. This has created a loophole that Star Market is trying to exploit. And with their financial resources and legal team, they can make it difficult for the town.

Q: Two days after the meeting, you wrote an open email letter to your customers and residents which was critical of the attempted transfer. What are you attempting to achieve?

A: Initially I was unaware of the meeting and I don’t think many in town understood what was happening. The Loading Dock’s owner brought his supporters and rallied behind him at the hearing and I totally respect and appreciate what they’re doing. They like the owner and are supporting him. I hope my customers do the same for me.

But the letter was more to let people know what is going on and it seems that no one knows this is happening. These licenses were never intended to go to a store like Star Market. As the Town Meeting and selectmen all said; if Star Market applied, it would be denied a license.

People need to know this because a transfer would have a really big impact. If the town gives Star Market a license, the whole landscape of the town with respect to alcohol purchases is going to be different. Five years from now, all the small stores will be gone, my store could very easily be gone and you’ll be looking at Star Market and Foodies as your two options.

Is that what the people want? I know for a fact that Town Meeting both times didn’t vote to have that kind of thing. They never wanted chains or for supermarkets to have licenses. That is the wish of the residents through Town Meeting. If you give the license to Star Market, that goes against the will of the people and you are heading down a slippery slope. People should be able to come to the meeting saying, “This isn’t right.”

Q: What has been the reaction to your email letter?

A: People are pretty heated about it. The most comments I’ve got is how does someone who doesn’t own the license and has only held it for 18 months could be allowed to make $400,000 off it. That’s what people are scratching their heads about.

I pay $4,000 to the town to operate my business. I don’t own the license. It’s a public good. If I sold this store, the license would stay with it because the operation would lose value. But to be able to take a license and just sell it on its own, that’s just crazy. How do you profit from something that you don’t own just doesn’t make any sense.

• • • • 

Chris Benoit’s email letter 
On Monday evening there was a meeting held by the Belmont Board of Selectmen and The Loading Dock. Unfortunately, the Town is not obligated to notify other license holders so we were unaware of the meeting. The owner of The Loading Dock is looking to transfer his all alcohol license to Shaws/Star Market in Waverly Square and collect $400,000.
This license, and two retail beer and wine licenses, were created at the 2013 Town Meeting, for the purpose of “economic development”. The Loading Dock was awarded the license in 2014 based on bringing economic development to the Brighton Street section of Belmont. At that hearing, then Selectman, and proponent of Town Meeting Article 15, [than Selectman] Andy Rojas, was quoted as saying “I believe this license would generate economic development in the spirit of why I supported a liquor license in town.” Within two years the owner has decided he needs to have an “off premise”, or restaurant/pouring, license to survive. 
The owner of The Loading Dock has discovered that having an all alcohol retail license isn’t the pot of gold he envisioned. Had my then wife, Elena, and I, who together opened The Spirited Gourmet in 2007, not planned well there would be no Spirited Gourmet. We knew, like for most businesses, that you’re likely going to sustain losses when you’re starting a business and it took us years to get in the black. We also knew that having a successful business would require having enough money to fund inventory, which, in our case is over $300,000. I’m not a cold-hearted person, and feel for Mr. Mukarker, but why should current license holders be penalized for his lack of planning and/or financial resources?
We try to have fun with what we do here but this is a difficult, competitive business. My living in a Somerville apartment and driving a 16-year-old car will attest to the fact I’m not getting rich from this business. There are currently 9 liquor stores within a 2.5-mile radius of The Spirited Gourmet. Foodies, which is scheduled to open in the fall, will make 10 stores. People shop local for this type of business so there’s a finite number of customers available to sustain a store. Allowing the license transfer to Shaws/Star Market will hurt this business financially and would not be in the spirit of why these licenses were created, for economic development. Had Mr. Rojas used Shaws/Star Market, and not this store, as an example of what these licenses would be used for I highly doubt they would have been approved. This is, unwittingly, turning into a bait and switch with a small food chain now holding a beer and wine license and a large conglomerate potentially being granted an all-alcohol license. 
Mr. Mukarker appeared with his supporters Monday evening. Elena and I have requested a meeting with the Board prior to their vote. We could really use the support of our customer base so that the Board understands that small business matters and stores like this add to a community. 

Sports: Field Hockey Sideswiped by Winchester (Again!), Rebound at Reading

Photo: AnnMarie Habelow (left) and Meri Power during the Winchester match.

On Monday afternoon, Sept. 26, Belmont High School Field Hockey began to reap the achievements of being undefeated (6-0-0) and having come off a stellar performance away at one-loss Lexington as the Boston Globe ranked the team 8th in Eastern Massachusetts, one of the highest rankings a Belmont hockey team had ever achieved.

By 7:15 p.m. that evening, the team came off Harris Field having laid an egg and along with it, flying in the rarified air of the top 10.

Gone was the undefeated season and the sense of invincibility after the Marauders were defeated by Winchester, 3-1. Last season, it was this same game where Belmont fall from the unbeaten, a 5-4 gut wrenching loss that spurred the team for the remainder of the year.

But where last year’s team collapsed in the final 10 minutes to give up four goals, Monday’s match with their new nemesis was a game full of just misses and head shaking moments.

“I don’t see how we lost to them,” said Belmont co-Capt. AnnMarie Hebalow the day after the shocker.

For Head Coach Jessie Smith, the loss was an object lesson for a team that had not been behind or even tied during a game this season.

“I told them, every great team needs to lose. You need to know what it feels like to be beaten and now they know. We’re done with that,” she said.

“Does it hurt? Yes. Can we move on from this and be better for it. You bet,” said Smith.

Not that Winchester is a surprise team in the Middlesex League Liberty Division, arriving Monday with a 5-1-1 record with the expected loss to Watertown and the unanticipated tie to Stoneham. While showing skills with the stick, the Sachems thrive on physically dominating other

While showing skills with the stick, the Sachems thrive on physically dominating other teams especially on counter attacks, turning from defense to offense on a dime and punishing an opponent for not protecting their goal.

And Winchester would score twice within four minutes in the final 15 minutes of the first half off plays which began off the counter.

It was hardly a game in which Belmont was on the back heel. The majority of the game was fought in Winchester’s midfield with Habelow directing Belmont’s offense which had balls sent on the Winchester goalie. 

But what became a common occurrence throughout the game, passes would bounce off a foot or jump over a stick that was at the ready. Case in point, penalty corners. Eagerly sought by attacking players as they provide an excellent opportunity to score, on three occasions the ball sent from the end line to Belmont’s top scorers skipped by the offense into the midfield.cvc

After going down 3-0 midway through the second half, the one bright spot in the game for the Marauders happened when freshman phenom Katie Guden scored from the middle of a scrum with nine minutes, marking Guden’s 14th goal as the 9th grader has tallied at least once in each game of the season.

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, Belmont traveled to Reading where they met a goalie that would end up with more than 20 saves, allowing the Rockets – which are still rebuilding its team – to tie the Marauders at the half, 1-1. But Belmont’s Habelow, who scored early in the game, put in her second, allowing Belmont to head back to the bus a winner. 

At 7-1-0, Belmont heads into the week in second in the Middlesex League Liberty, ready to face Burlington away on Wednesday, Oct. 5 and at home against Wakefield on Thursday, Oct. 6. 

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Sports: Mistakes Rain on Belmont Football In Loss to Winless Woburn

Photo: The Belmont High defense in pursuit.

Belmont gifted Woburn its first victory of the year with a big bow on top.

On a wet, misty night, the Marauders left a season’s worth of mistakes and miscues on the field, allowing the hometown Tanners to walk off the field with the win, 10-7, under the lights, Friday, Sept. 30.

From penalties to dropped passes, unfortunate plays, and missed opportunities, Belmont lets a good chance to carry away a victory fall flat when it could not gain two yards on three plays with a minute remaining in the game, the same scenario against the same team one year ago.

After the game, Belmont Head Coach Yann Kumin lamented the team’s inconsistent play over the 44 minutes. 

“We played a great football game at times and a very poor football game at times. And in order to beat a Woburn at 0-3, we have to play a good football game all the time. And we did not do that tonight, period.”

But it was the miscues – something Belmont been avoiding this season – which did in the Marauders. 

“We had at least 70 yards in penalties if not more. I’m afraid to look. We turned the ball over on downs; we fumbled the ball on a great drive where we had some good things going, then had great opportunities to move the ball down the field and win it at the end of the game we weren’t able to do it,” said Kumin

“And that is on me. It’s not on my [coaches], not on my players; it’s not on anyone but me,” said Kumin.

The first quarter saw Belmont at its best, with the defense halting Woburn twice inside (the first on downs, the second on a fumble recovery) the Marauders’ 20 yard line after Belmont fumbled consecutive punt returns in the first five minutes.

And it didn’t take long for Belmont to strike when on the offense’s second play senior QB Cal Christofori threw a strike to wide receiver Jared Edwards catching the sophomore in stride for a 67 yard TD at the 6 minute mark.

But the misty rain effected both offenses as the defenses of both teams took control. While Belmont’s defense was stellar all night, they allowed Woburn one-to-many long runs, including Tyler Hayden’s 48-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. 

Belmont was also caught by a fake punt late in the second quarter that gave Woburn the ball on the Belmont 32. But the defense, behind Ryan Noone, Dennis Crowley and Adam Deese, forced the Tanners to turn the ball over on downs. 

The Marauders came out throwing at the start of the second which Christofori hitting Dylan Ferdinand for 27 yards to Woburn’s 15 but a fumble by the usually reliable Ben Jones end the drive.

Woburn began its second half going into a no-huddle, running effectively over the right side of the line. 

When Belmont got the ball back at the 30 yard line, the Marauders steadly moved the ball … backwards on two penalities and an ineffective pass, to the 13. And only the quick thinking of kicker Aidan Cadogan who calmly recovered a high snap and sent the ball to the 40, prevented a truely disastereous outcome. 

With momentum on its side, Woburn moved the ball to the Belmont 8, but once again the defense held behind the big rush by Deese, forcing Woburn’s Brazilian transfer student Victor Scobel to hit the 23 yard field goal with nine second remaining in the third quarter.

Once again, Belmont’s offense got close – taking the ball from the Belmont 41 to Woburn’s 30 – but a dropped pass with daylight to the goal line, a penalty and another incomplete pass gave Woburn the ball back with 6 minutes remaining. Belmont nearly stopped the Tanners on three downs but a questionable pass interference call against the Marauders allowed Woburns to run more than two minutes off the clock.

With the defense giving the offense the ball back with 1:42 remaining, Belmont started in fine form, with a Jones four yard run and then a 15 yard personal foul put the ball on Belmont’s 47. After an eight yard run, the Marauders faced a second and 2 from the 46 with 61 second left in the game. But Belmont could not pick up six feet on three plays and a win was washed away. 

“It’s going to hurt right now but [the players] live in the moment, they live in the reap,” said Kumin.

“The moment not isn’t great and live in it for a second because they are competitive guys and we are competitive coaches. And while we live in this moment and it will hurt, tomorrow we will break down video of the game and get ready for Reading, so it’s not getting any easier for us,” he said.

“I hope this is a wake-up call. We are a really good football team but in order to be great, we have to continue to not kicking ourselves in the butt and chopping our foot off. And that’s on me,” said Kumin.