Roy L. Williams
Costco Wholesale Corp.
Costco is seeking permission from the Hoover City Council to sell liquor at its store on Galleria Circle.
Costco Wholesale Corp. could find out within days whether it will soon be able to sell liquor at its Galleria Circle location.
The request by Costco under the name Costco Wholesale Liquor for “conditional use approval for sale of off-premise liquor” is on the Monday, Aug. 17 Hoover City Council agenda. A first hearing of the request appeared on the July 20 council agenda. On July 13, the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission approved Costco’s proposal.
Clif Eason, an assistant professor at the Brock School of Business at Samford University, said the Costco request brings up an interesting issue. Alabama is one of the few states to both regulate the liquor industry and operate retail liquor stores (across the state, they are called ABC or Alcoholic Beverage Control stores).
As a major wholesaler, Eason said Costco may be able to compete much better against ABC stores in terms of pricing and sales than smaller independent liquor stores. The Hoover Sun will follow up on this issue after the Aug. 17 Hoover City Council meeting.
The council also plans to discuss:
- Improvements to Alford Avenue and a realignment project on Shadybrook Lane.
- Mayoral authorization for an engineering agreement to upgrade street lighting on U.S. 31.
- Public hearing for a car wash off of John Hawkins Parkway.
- Public hearing for amending the municipal codes on fences and walls in single family residential districts.
The full agenda can be found here.
