Safeway joins in liquor sales

One-store-only rule exercised in Littleton

By James Paton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 13, 2007 at 9:51 p.m.

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Photo by Linda McConnell © Special to the Rocky

Stephanie Herrera, of Castle Rock, adjusts her son Jayden's clothing Tuesday while shopping in the wine section of the new Safeway store in Littleton. Cindy Bannick, of Littleton, and her daughter, Mia, 3, are in the background. It's the only Safeway in Colorado licensed to sell liquor.

Photo by Linda McConnell © Special to the Rocky

Aisles were crowded Tuesday at the new Safeway "lifestyle" store on the corner of West Mineral Avenue and Broadway in Littleton, which opened Tuesday.

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Asked to recommend a nice Thanksgiving wine, sommelier Kimberly Fitzgerald points to the Schmitt Sohne Riesling. For New Year's Eve, she suggests a bottle of Chandon Riche Extra Dry.

"That's a crowd pleaser," she said.

Fitzgerald can assist those planning a fancy party. But at this suburban supermarket, a new Safeway in Littleton, she's as likely to run into someone carrying a tub of mustard potato salad.

She's ready for that scenario, too. "Dijon mustard?" she asks. "Definitely a French Chardonnay."

Grocery stores and other chains in Colorado have just one shot to offer liquor. The law allows each retailer with a license to sell liquor in only one store in the state, so supermarkets are putting a lot of effort into their sole alcohol sections. The Glendale SuperTarget, Greeley Super Kmart and Rite Aid on South Colorado Boulevard in Denver are all in the game, and Whole Foods in 2005 opened a wine shop adjacent to its store on East Hampden Avenue.

"Why now? We've just never used the license in the past," said Scott Grimmett, president of Safeway's Denver division. "Why here? It's difficult to go into an existing store with this plan. We needed to do it in a new store, where we could carve out the space we needed."

King Soopers has no immediate plans to sell liquor. "We've taken no action," said spokesman Trail Daugherty. "But we're always looking for new ways to meet consumers' needs."

Safeway's new "lifestyle" store on the corner of West Mineral Avenue and Broadway features a "nut bar," with more than 50 varieties of nuts and seeds, a gelato station and a sushi spot where consumers can sit and eat. The roughly 70,000-square-foot store, which opened Tuesday, also has a Jamba Juice, a Starbucks and wireless Internet service.

"This is in response to what consumers are telling us they want," Grimmett said.

In recent years, supermarkets including Safeway have made such changes as adding wood floors and organic products to counter Whole Foods.

It's the 2,000 brands of wines lining the walls, the micro brews, and the temperature-controlled wine room behind glass doors that are likely to attract a lot of attention. Consumers are not accustomed to finding anything stronger than 3.2 beer in grocery stores. Littleton approved Safeway's license this year.

Still, the Safeway store, like everyone else in Colorado's retail world, is prohibited from selling liquor on Sundays.

Fitzgerald, getting ready for her first customer, looks forward to matching wines with the cheese, meat and fish Safeway is selling in nearby aisles.

"If they want to get serious about it," said Safeway's in- house sommelier, "we can get serious."

The hard stuff

A Colorado law allows the holder of a retail license to sell liquor and full-strength beer and wine at only one store in the state. Chain stores that sell liquor in Colorado:

* Safeway in Littleton

* SuperTarget in Glendale

* Super Kmart in Greeley

* Rite Aid on South Colorado Boulevard in Denver

* Whole Foods adjacent to its site on East Hampden Avenue

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