Kmart withdraws license request

By Gus Bode

Kmart withdrew its application for a packaged liquor license to sell beer and wine because of the financial burden that would be put on the company.

The Big K store manager Mike Potts said the Kmart Company did not want to spend the money required to train employees to Carbondale and Jackson County standards.

There were too many red lines, he said. There was too much financial and red tape.

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Kmart applied for the Class C packaged liquor license this month for its Carbondale location, 1250 E. Main St.

A Class C package liquor license allows for the sale of liquor for off-premises consumption. Two licenses are available under a city-wide cap of eight licenses.

Under city and county codes, Kmart would have been required to train at least 51 percent of its employees with Training of Intervention Procedures, or TIPS training. The training is a program though Jackson County Health Department that teaches servers how to deal with customers who have consumed too much alcohol.

Potts said it costs about $30 per person to be trained in the program, and Kmart did not want to make that kind of financial commitment.

Potts also said the store would have to relocate the proposed liquor department and other departments in the store to fulfill government requirements.

It was going to be more of a hassle then it was going to be worth, he said.

Kmart wanted to make the changes to the Carbondale location in order make it like other Big K stores that offer a variety of merchandise, including an entire food and drug selection.

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In June 1997, two liquor licenses became available when Times Square Liquors, 1702 W. Main St., closed and Walgreen Drug Store moved out of University Mall to 206 W. Wall St. Also that June, the City Council decided to keep the 1995 Class C liquor license cap at eight.

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