MADISON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (EYT) – Sheetz recently was the successful bidder with $70,000.00 bid in an auction held by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for an expired state liquor license in Madison Township to sell beer in Clarion County. Another license in Madison Township may also be transferred to Knox Borough.
The license can only be transferred to another Sheetz location in Clarion County, and the only Sheetz in the county is located in Clarion on East Main Street.
“It’s the start of a process for bringing beer to that location, but we don’t have any timeline,” said Sheetz Public Relations Manager Nick Ruffner.
Ruffner also confirmed that there are no new Sheetz stores planned for Clarion County in the company’s short-term plans.
“I don’t see any short term plans for a new Sheetz in Clarion County,” said Ruffner. “I can’t speak to the long term plans, but I’m looking at the construction plans through August of this year, and I don’t see any in Clarion County on the list. I don’t see a remodel scheduled for Clarion either.”
The goal of Sheetz, according to Ruffner, is to sell beer in as many stores in Pennsylvania that it can.
While PCLB records online did not identify the past holder of the auctioned expired license in Madison Township, some people are speculating that it is a restaurant/bar that was located behind the Rimersburg VFW. The building has gone through a number of names throughout the years, including Enid’s, Arnold’s, Out of the Way Café, and Campfire Café. As Out of the Way, it did have a liquor license, but the Campfire did not have a license.
Licenses can be purchase or transferred a number of different ways, and a list of licenses in Clarion County is available. As with auctions, licenses can be sold, and the new owner can transfer it to another location in Clarion County.
License moving to Knox?
Such a pending transfer was listed for Madison County, with the license for the Chug Bar and Grill being purchased by EFH Inc. (Wensel Enterprises). The pending transfer is to the Knox Sunoco and Subway. Eric and Tammy Wensel own three similar convenience stores in Rimersburg, Sligo, and Knox. Both Rimersburg and Sligo are “dry” towns that do not permit sales, but alcohol sales are permitted in Knox Borough.
Winning bids for the 42 licenses up for auction ranged from $25,001.00 for a license in Lower Yoder Township, Cambria County, to $463,802.00 for a license in Abington Township, Montgomery County. The average winning bid in the second auction was $119,315.00.
The number of bids received for each of the 42 licenses receiving bids ranged from one to five.
Statewide, about 1,200 licenses that have expired since 2000 will be made available through auctions in the coming months and years.
The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees.
Taxes and store profits – totaling $15.1 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health, and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services.
The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit www.lcb.pa.gov.
