Plea for liquor licence renewal

The Brockville Four Square Supermarket’s liquor licence renewal application is being opposed because its tobacco sales revenue is too high. Photo: Gregor Richardson.

The answer could mean the difference between success and failure for the owners of a Dunedin suburban supermarket trying to renew their alcohol licence.

Zandra and Greg Davis, co-owners of Brockville Four Square, yesterday asked the Dunedin District Licensing Committee to renew the off-licence for their small supermarket in Brockville Rd.

After evidence and submissions from Mr and Mrs Davis and other parties, committee chairman Colin Weatherall adjourned the hearing, indicating he would issue a minute "reasonably soon" to let the parties know if further information was needed.

The committee did not want to stretch the process any further but  wanted "to do it right", Mr Weatherall said, apologising to Mr and Mrs Davis for the stress caused by the uncertainty of their situation. When they bought the Brockville Rd grocery store in April 2014, they obtained a temporary authority to sell beer and wine.

They then applied for, and were granted, a full off-licence, even though licensing inspector Tony Mole found the sales figures for the three months ended June 30, 2014, showed the principal business of the store was the sale of tobacco, at 37.24%. The sale of food products was 30.97% and a separate category, convenience food, made up another 11.39%.

In changes to the Sale and Supply of Liquor Act in 2012 the term "grocery store" was defined  in section 33 (1) as premises where "a range of food products and other household items" were sold, but "the principal business carried on is or will be the sale of food products".

Although Mr Mole said Brockville Four Square "did not fit the criteria to have the licence renewed" because of its tobacco sales figures, the committee decided to issue the licence in 2014, commenting that the high figure of 37% for tobacco sales "may be a result of the area in which the store is situated and the high price of tobacco products".

While the sales figures indicated the sale of food was not the principal business, the store was, "in every other aspect" a grocery store, it said.

Mr Mole said yesterday hindsight and case law now indicated the licence "was issued in error in 2014".

In June 2015, when Mr and Mrs Davis applied to renew the licence,  the proportion of food product sales was down  2%, the tobacco proportion was up  2% and the proportion of convenience food sales had risen from 11.39% to 12%.

Mr Mole concluded that the licence could not be renewed as the premises were ‘‘not a grocery store as defined by section 32 (1) (b) of the Act.

He backed that by referring to an Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) decision last November allowing an appeal against the renewal of an off-licence for Bream Bay Four Square in Ruakaka near Whangarei, where high tobacco sales were involved. Convenience foods sold by Brockville Four Square included pies, bags of chips, cans of drinks and sweets, Mr Davis said.

But in their local community, pies were regarded as a meal. Many people bought them for breakfast and lunch because they could not afford other meals, he said.

The "gross sales revenue" figures used to calculate the store’s "principal business" should be interpreted as gross profit rather than turnover when considering whether  premises were a grocery store in terms of section 33 (1), Mr Davis said.

If "gross sales revenue" was interpreted as the gross profit made on each product category, it showed their principal business was food products and not tobacco.

If that was not accepted, he argued their supermarket fell within the section 34 exception because of the special nature of the Brockville community.

The store was effectively in an isolated urban community, as was Matangi Four Square, a North Island premises granted an off-licence in 2014 by the Waikato District Licensing Committee.

The store was not far from other areas, but Brockville’s unique location and demographic meant its residents did not have reasonable access to other areas, Mr Davis said. Alcohol-related harm would not be increased by granting the Brockville Four Square an off-licence as it had already held one for several years with no issues. If the licence was not renewed, there would be significant consequences for the business.

- Kay Sinclair