While I've Been Out: Is Wegmans Trying Again For A Liquor Store? We Have A Sign, Not The Story

Columbia Wegmans trying again for liquor license?? What's changed? @suncolumbia @HowChowBlog @PerfectPourMD pic.twitter.com/fP6m3EgMYo

— Ryan (@foodtvsports) July 22, 2015

Among the many tweets and emails that I overlooked during the summer is the post above asking if the Columbia Wegmans is trying again for a liquor license.

Does anyone know?

The tweet seems to show a poster advertising a July 20 liquor board hearing for something called The Loft Wine & Spirits.  I see a county Web page that mentions a hearing, saying it was for Thomas quick.  I see decisions from July 21 and July 28, but nothing that mentions the Loft.

One aside, I did notice the extension that Petit Louis got so that you can now order liquor on their entire patio.  I have dreams about a relaxed fall evening with a glass of wine and dessert from Le Comptoir.  I also saw that Ananda has asked for a refillable container permit, which I assume means growlers.  That sounds great too.

But back to the big question: Does anyone know about plans for the Loft Wine & Spirits at Wegmans?  What have I missed?  I just searched a bit and don't see Web mentions of the Loft Wine & Spirits.  I'm agnostic on Wegmans opening a store.  I love Wegmans.  I buy very little alcohol, but I'm happy when I buy from a nice store with good stuff and good advice.  I go out of my way to check Perfect Pour in Elkridge because I get fair treatment and good advice.

Wegmans has a huge space on the second floor.  So I could see why they want to try again.  If they do, I would expect a similar fight from liquor store owners who don't want a massive competitor that people would visit as part of their regular shopping.  On the one hand, I don't buy the "save the children" arguments that seem to suggest liquor shouldn't mix with groceries.  On the other hand, the 2012 application seemed to just flout the law by installing a straw owner.

This is part of my "While I've Been Out" series to restart the blog.  Late last year, the blog got some serious competition.  I'm still working out how to keep writing while I'm doing so many other new things as well.  Thanks to everyone who has kept reading, emailing and commenting.  Monday, I'll be back with a gyro at Hickory Ridge Grill and the brunch at Ananda that was my great "lost post"

Wegmans Tour: Rob Tours Wegmans And Reports Back On Meats, Caviar And Shopping Carts

Cheese at Wegmans

Two key facts about the new Wegmans.  First, don't try to take shopping carts down from the second floor of the parking garage.  They have a conveyer so you can take your food up to the second floor.  But professionals will take carts back down.  Second, there is a model train running in the back of the store.  It's a Wegmans tradition.  It's all the most-exciting part of the grocery to my nephew.  So the Virginia HowChows can visit safely.

These facts come from Rob, who volunteered for the HowChow blog slot during Wegman media days.  He took a long tour on Thursday, taking photos and collecting information.  Here is a primer before the big opening at 7 a.m. on Sunday --

I arrived early for a 2-o'clock appointment and was struck immediately by the size of this place.  The parking lot, two levels of it, is huge.  I parked my car on the lower level in the "eggplant" section.  As opposed to "A" through "Z", Wegmans chose to label parking with the names of fruits and vegetables.  It turns out that I did myself a favor and looked over the recently updated web site and found the parking guide which provided some good information about how to park on the upper and lower levels as well as how to move your groceries from the lower level to the upper.  Hot tip:  Do not try to take carts from the upper level parking into the store.  But you can use the the escalator on the left side of the store (as you face the front from the outside) to move your cart and yourself to the second level. 

There was quite a presence in the store when I arrived.  I spotted Colleen and Danny Wegman talking to the troops as I sought out my contacts.  I actually got a balcony shot of Danny and store manager, Wendy Webster, if you can imagine the quality of a picture taken by a blind, one-armed chimp.  Jo Natale, Wegmans' Director of Media Relations, and Cynthia Glover, principal of Smart Works marketing company, were my guides through the 135,000 sq. ft. store.  Did I mention the place is huge?  It is.   

HowChow Commandos Now Living In Wegmans

Two weeks to Wegmans, and it's getting pretty exciting here at HowChow.

True Wegmans lovers won't be able to wait in the lines at the opening on June 17.  That's why the first team of HowChow commandos snuck into the building using a stolen Imperial shuttle.  They are living secretly beneath the cheese department.

At dawn this morning, General Solo snuck out of hiding to snap this photo of Wegmans.  You can see that it is cleverly disguised now as a supermarket.  In the normal Wegmans construction process, they pave the aisles with gold and install the celestial choir in just the final few days.

Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.

Liquor Coming Upstairs At Wegmans

The liquor store attached to the new Wegmans will apparently be upstairs on the second floor of the new building -- at least that's what the name suggests.

Upstairs Wine & Beer has its liquor board hearing on May 1, 2012.  That's the trade name of Columbia Wine Partners LLC, which has applied for a seven-day license at 8855 McGaw Road.  That seems to be the Columbia Wegmans site facing Snowden River Parkway.

Wegmans Update: Clock Tower Is Up

Steve posted photos of the new Columbia Wegmans showing that their signature clock tower going up.  Check out the "I Want The Columbia Wegmans" Facebook page.  Three months to opening . . .

Wegmans -- Rob Pops The Questions About What You Can Expect At The New Columbia Store

Wendy Webster, manager of the Columbia Wegmans

We're overdoing the Wegmans news.  I feel like I need to remind a few people that we're having fun around here.  We know that we're overdoing, and it's fun to enjoy a place that will deliver so much food.

HowChow reader Rob got himself an interview with Wendy Webster, the manager of the new Columbia Wegmans.  He went armed with questions from HowChow and the I Want The Columbia Wegmans Facebook page.  The big rumor -- that the store might open before the publicly-announced date of June 17, 2012.

Rob just asked.  He got an interview.  And he got answers:

My opportunity to interview Wendy Webster seems to have had something to do with timing. The folks at Wegmans have been following the chatter on the Web with questions about the store and thought it time to answer them. I just happened to have contacted Consumer Affairs to ask for an opportunity to talk with Wendy at the same time. 

Perhaps it did not hurt that I am a fan of the company and decidedly not a journalist. I only occasionally contribute to this blog. However it came about, I was happy to have the opportunity. 

Wegmans Getting Ready For Its Closeup

The Columbia Wegmans with bridges to the parking garage 

The Wegmans in Columbia is still a construction site, but now it looks like a store.

The driveways work, and you can actually drive up the Snowden River entrance to see the Wegmans front door.  The exterior looks nice to me, just a few holes left to fill.  The parking garage comes just a driveway from the building.  There are two wide bridges that will connect them on the second floor.

They have already installed some curbs.  Obviously, they need to repave and landscape.  On the McGaw Road side, they're planting trees.  (In February?)  Fun to see them knock off detail work.  Anyone know if June 17, 2012 is still penciled in as the opening?  There is chatter about whether good weather let them get work done faster.

Wegmans Won't Sell Liquor, But There Will Still Be Wine And Beer (Almost) In The Columbia Store

The new Columbia Wegmans won't have its own liquor license, but it turns out that you'll be able to buy beer and wine (almost) in the store.

"Almost" because the liquor store on the site will actually be an independent third-party store adjacent to the Wegmans.  That's the report from the Wegman Twitter's account earlier tonight.  Thanks for the update Wegmans!

There is a followup to the prior post about how Wegmans won't have its own liquor license.

Columbia Wegmans Won't Sell Liquor [Updated]

Does anyone know if the Wegmans in Columbia will sell liquor? [Update -- See the answer below.]

I know that grocery stores don't sell beer or wine around here.  I understand that there are a bunch of laws designed to protect small liquor stores.  I had assumed Wegmans wouldn't sell liquor either.

But people on the I Want The Columbia Md. Wegmans Facebook page have said other Wegmans employees are saying that Columbia will sell liquor.  Anthony posted Tuesday that customer service in Bel Air said that the Columbia store had applied for a license and would have a wine store.

Anyone know?  Anyone know how to search liquor license applications in Howard County?

[Update -- Lisa Rossi on the Columbia Patch confirmed that Wegmans won't get a liquor license.  However, Wegmans tweeted that there will be a third-party liquor store adjacent to the grocery.]

Invite your friend to join the I Want The Columbia Md. Wegmans Facebook page.  There are 916 members now.  Any current member can approve their friends' requests to join.

Report: Wegmans Has Opened An Employment Center

Wegmans has opened an employment center at 10211 Wincopin Circle, according to Janice Maketa Orlik on the "I Want The Columbia, Md. Wegmans" Facebook page.

The countdown clock tonight says 197 days to the Wegmans opens.

Link: Columbia Wegmans To Open June 17, 2012

The new Wegmans in Columbia will open on June 17, 2012, reports the Columbia Patch and Explore Howard.

Explore Howard also reports that the new supermarket in the Long Reach village center will be called Family Foods.

Columbia Wegmans: Looking Like A Grocery

That's the Columbia Wegmans today.  After years of waiting and empty lots, you can actually see how it will turn out.  "That looks like a grocery store," shouts Mrs. HowChow.

Check out the "I Want The Columbia Wegmans" Facebook page where Denise posted a similar shot.

If You Squint, You Can Almost See The Olive Bar (Plus Wegmans Secret To Delivering Groceries)

Construction has kicked into gear at the site of the Columbia Wegmans.  I feel like skeletal girders just went up, but they're already wrapped in walls.

We seem to still be looking at a Summer 2012 opening.  I haven't heard more since the Columbia Patch's report.  But progress is always good, and I took an "out the window" video on Sunday.  The picture below shakes with each bump on McGaw Road, but you can now recognize the site as an enormous store.

People often wonder what makes Wegmans so different.  I posted two years ago about why I want Wegmans.  But one great difference is logistics.  Wegmans delivers 100% of its food in trucks like the one above.  Strobist, the eye behind the HoCo 360 blog, photographed that "vehicle."  You get great gas mileage from a Pez dispenser.

Wegmans Says Columbia Will Open Summer 2012

The Columbia Wegmans should open in Summer 2012, a Wegmans spokesman told the Columbia Patch.

Things are serious now.  Wegmans rented office space for the next year, reported Wordbones.  They're finally giving a date, which seems great.  I may push the public demonstration to Memorial Day 2012 -- better weather, and we'll be closer.

If you're interested in Wegmans, join the I Want The Columbia Wegmans Facebook page and post there.  Some new Facebook system means that new members must be approved by current ones.  Feel free to invite and approve your friends.

Columbia Wegmans Manager -- Wendy Webster

The manager of the new Wegmans being built in Columbia will be Wendy Webster, who ran the Hunt Valley store, according to a flyer sent to Michael Moore and posted on the I Want The Columbia Wegmans Facebook page.

It looks like we have two stories of steel on the McGaw Road site.  Now we have a manager.  The flyer is a bit tough to read, but you can enlarge it on Facebook.

Michael Moore

Just received in the mail: Wendy Webster is to be the Columbia store manager. She previously was the store manager at the Hunt Valley Wegmans.

10 hours ago ·  ·  · 

Wegmans: They're Building, Anyone Know More?

The Wegmans hasn't exactly started to rise in Columbia, but at least they appear to be laying the foundations.

The site has lots of machinery, and it looks like they have leveled off large areas.  Of course, I'm just looking through the fence.  My source for real estate news is the Tales of Two Cities blog, which has predicted a Summer 2012 opening and talked about the parking garage.

For the future, I'm going to track the porta-potties.  I see three now.  I have a dream that one day I'll see them deliver 10 more, 20 more, enough porta-potties for an army of Wegmans construction workers.  It's good to have a dream.

(Update: Check out the comments below.  Also see Rick Bird's comment on the "I Want The Columbia, Md. Wegmans" Facebook page -- that footers are being inspected June 10.)

Anyone know more about the status of the Wegman's?  I assume the wet weather has slowed them down.  Anyone hear anything about an opening target?  Check back for my posts about news on Wegmans.

Want To See Wegmans Columbia Site Plan?

Want to see the site plan for the Columbia Wegmans?  Wegnow left a comment on a prior post with a link to a Howard County planning board Web page that shows a map of the site:

Check out this on the HC planning board website: http://www.co.ho.md.us/DPZ/DPZDocs/SDP07131tsr.pdf It shows a picture of SR Pkwy with an image of the to be built Wegmans. Garage and clock tower are closest to SRP, store on the west end of the site. I think when this gets approved, permits are not too far behind. 

Columbia Wegmans: A Flat Space And Promises

What we have now is a blank slate where a Wegmans will one day rise.

Wegmans site July 2010

The photo above is the Columbia Wegmans site Monday afternoon.  Not much to see from the street.  They flattened the trees and warehouse since last summer when I snapped this photo through the chain link fence.  They have certainly regraded and maybe even built up an area in the center.

But they're still burying pipes, and there were just a handful of people working there.  It isn't clear to me where the store is going to sit.

There is a hearing on April 7 before the Howard County planning board.  The sign says it involves a height adjustment to the clock tower.  Last I'd heard, Wegmans was aiming to open the Columbia store in mid-2012.  (Click here for all my Wegmans news.)  If anyone hears more details, let me know.

Columbia Wegmans: Still Aiming For Mid-2012

Wegmans still hopes to open the Columbia store in the late spring or early summer of 2012, the company spokesman told the Columbia Flier.

Wegmans submitting building permits last week to build the store and a two-story parking garage.

Wegmans Submitted Permits To Start Building The New Columbia Store & Garage

Wegmans submitted permit applications on Friday to start construction on its new Columbia store -- describing a one-story grocery store with mezzanine and a two-story parking garage.

I'm steeling myself to the reality that Wegmans probably won't open until 2012.  But any progress warms my heart.  My parents came from Fairfax with Wegmans cheese on Saturday.  Absolutely spectacular.  The grocery aisles will be nice, but I'm really chomping at the bit for the cheese, vegetables and all the prepared and semi-prepared departments.

(Update:  I can now open both permits -- for the store (B11000259) and for the garage (B11000264).  Thanks to Lotsabogeys, who tipped me to two permits.  And thank you for noticing the missing zero.)

You can check Howard County's site yourself.  Anyone know more details or timetable?