Main Street Managers talk to each other all of the time. One manager will encounter many of the same problems encountered by another manager. One problem continues to come to the forefront of issues relating to the downtown… losing your Liquor Control Board (LCB) state store.

I lost a state store to a mall in DuBois, Downingtown and Phoenixville. In all three cases, I did not think that I was fairly dealt with by the state store establishment. It appears that the model is to have a state store located either in or near a supermarket. 

Early on, I was naive and unaware that state agencies could work cross-purpose to each other. I was involved in a state sponsored program for the betterment of the downtown and I somehow thought that all other state agencies were supposed to be supportive. I heard about the downtown location laws that said that federal government and state government building should avoid relocating out of an existing downtown. I knew that my legislators were on my side because of my board’s connection to the local political establishment.

What I did not know was that the LCB is and independent organization that really does not care about downtown locations, even if they make money. I spoke to a manager today from the central part of the state that is fighting for their life to keep the state store in the downtown. It appears that they are not only losing their state store, but also their CVS to a mall developer on the outskirts of town.

In DuBois, I was told that the street was a one-way street and the LCB could not make a go of it on the street. I asked for time to make the street two ways. I got a grant, widened the street, made it two ways and three months later they announced they were moving to the mall.

In Downingtown, I was a little more sophisticated and had both Senator Bob Thompson and Representative Curt Schroder involved. We had a meeting and the LCB sent their counsel who came in wearing a mink coat, dripping in expensive jewelry and truly one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I knew I was a loser even though the LCB could not produce a plan that outlined their actions. 

In Phoenixville, I thought I was hip. I tracked the RFP for space. I followed every lead and was assured of and promised any number of things, and still lost the state store. I even had Christmas Eve discussions with the executive director of the LCB… but alas the state store moved to a strip center. What was amusing in a way was the LCB told us what an uptick there was in restaurant orders and they wanted to make it more convenient. Ahhhh well, that is because all of the restaurants that were opening in downtown Phoenixville. Let’s make them drive three miles instead of walking down the street.

My friend told me how in her town the deal was not a “done deal,” how there was still hope and to contact all of the residents and get them to write letters. I knew that a million letters would not help. She told me about how the sign contractor told her the sign was ordered, and how the fit out was approved. Playing fair is not part of the LCB’s method of operation, you find out the day it happens.

When stores move out of the downtown, if main the street manager knows their business, they go out and try to get a replacement. A state store or a post office is something that you cannot duplicate or replace. They are anchors, they are the kind of stores that bring people to the downtown because they are not located everywhere and it is a reason to go to the downtown. 

As I look at it now, there is now a decline in the viability of malls and they are closing everywhere. I have seen LCB stores as a remaining tenant in a mall and it would make me laugh if it were not so sad. There is plenty of parking around the store because they are the only one there. Another interesting scenario is someone like Wegman’s moves across the street and the precious grocery store that the LCB sought to locate next to is gone, like it is in Downingtown.

I guess that is why I advocate the divesture of the LCB system by the legislature and to dismantle the insensitive bureaucracy that caters to making strip centers on the edge of town work. If it were to be dismantled, it would put the LCB real estate people out of work… that could be looked at as a life goal for me. I believe that these individuals need a dose of reality of working in a system where the market determines use.

Barry Cassidy is a freelance grant and economic development consultant. He can be reached at barrycassidy@comcast.net.