The Brown & White

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board approved liquor licenses for the eat-in cafes in seven Wegmans grocery stores in Pennsylvania, including the store in Bethlehem, said Jo Natale, Wegmans' press representative.

The cafe will be selling beer by the glass with a meal or two six-packs per person for carry-out, Natale said.

Wegmans was approved for the liquor license because it has a full restaurant and the cafe is the only place where the beer will be sold, said R.J. O'Hara, Wegmans' lawyer.

Wegmans officials are not sure when they can start selling beer because of a lawsuit filed by the Malt Beverage Distributors Association against Wegmans.

Mary Lou Hogan, a representative of the Malt Beverage Distributors Association, said the manner in which Wegmans is using the retail liquor license is against the law.

"If you look at the code as a whole, which is the law in Pennsylvania, it was never expected to sell liquor in grocery stores," Hogan said.

For the MBDA to succeed in the suit, it will have to prove they will suffer immediate harm from Wegmans selling beer, O'Hara said.

"We will argue that they will not," O'Hara said.

Natale said they anticipated that the Malt Beverage Distributors would react this way and hopes it doesn't slow down the process.

Natale said there is no way to know what will come of the suit and said it is left up to courts to decide.

O'Hara said he expects that beer may be sold as soon as a month from now.

Before the stores can start selling beer, they have to make some minor changes to comply with the law, Natale said.

Mike Manlove, a manager at Wegmans, said there will be some construction to enclose the cafe area and more coolers will be added.

The license granted will allow beer, wine and spirits to be sold at Wegmans, O'Hara said, but right now Wegmans has no plans at this time to sell anything other than beer.

"Although there are very indefinite plans to sell wine, for on-premise consumption only, at some future date," O'Hara said.

Chapman said companies like Wegmans are applying more frequently for liquor licenses because these supermarkets are changing its business strategies and offering more of a restaurant experience.

Whitney Clark, '08, said the new liquor license will keep her shopping at Wegmans.

"I do usually shop at Wegmans, and the fact that now I can buy a couple of six packs will definitely keep me shopping there," she said.

Clark also said many local beer distributors don't sell six-packs so it's enticing that Wegmans will now carry them.

She said this will probably increase Wegmans popularity with students that are over 21.