WASHINGTON — Frank Shull was raised in Montgomery County and loves it there. But as partner and chief operating officer of the RW Restaurant Group, he says it’s tough to do business in his hometown. The county Department of Liquor Control’s practices are costing him and his customers.
“People come into my restaurants in D.C., and then they come into Bethesda and they say, ‘huh, this beer is three dollars more, or two dollars more,’ and they just don’t understand,” Shull said.
This week, a supplier sent notices to Montgomery County restaurants saying future deliveries could be cut off because it hadn’t been paid. Shull puts the blame on the county’s shoulders.
George Griffin, director of the county’s liquor control department, said the issue stemmed from the county’s practice of reconciling orders before paying the tab. “There was a series of reconciliations that had to take place on a series of invoices from this one particular supplier,” Griffin said. “The county will not pay a vendor unless the bill is reconciled.”
Councilman Roger Berliner said the county shouldn’t be in the alcohol distribution business. “That may be county policy, but that’s not how the retail real world works,” he said.
Berliner says Montgomery County gets a net benefit of $30 million a year in revenues from the liquor control operations, but he’s convinced that eliminating the monopoly it has would generate more business and revenue for Montgomery County.
Griffin says recent changes in his department, like hiring former private sector industry executives, will improve performance. He says operations at the DLC have already improved.
“Well, I should hope so, considering the starting point,” Berliner said in response.
Griffin says county metrics can document improvement in terms of making sure restaurants and bars get what they ordered.
Still, Shull said there are too many errors, especially when it comes to special orders, a big chunk of his business.
“We don’t get those in a timely fashion,” Shull said, “so it’s very frustrating.”
Shull said he doesn’t fault the workers at the county’s liquor control department: “We have great relationships with the licensing department, and I have nothing but praise for them. So it’s not their fault.”
Berliner said it would take state legislation to change the way the county’s alcohol laws are structured. Shull said he’s ready to go to Annapolis when the General Assembly session begins in January.
And while there’s support from lawmakers, he won’t say yet which ones are taking that position. For Shull, allowing restaurants and bars to deal directly with special order distributors “is a huge step in the right direction.”
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.