Students will soon be able to throw a 12-pack into their carts at the Safeway on Wisconsin Ave. This month, the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board granted the store a Class B liquor license, which allows the sale of beer and wine, but not hard alcohol.
Safeway will sell alcohol seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., beginning as soon as employees are trained in identification procedures, which will probably take between 60 and 90 days, according to Safeway spokesman Charles Muckle.
The store first applied for the license when it was renovated in 2002, but the application was stymied because Hardy Middle School is located across the street, and ABCB could not issue licenses to businesses within 400 feet of a school. The law was revised last year to exempt grocery stores.
Safeway got its license after gaining support from the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Citizens Association of Georgetown.
“This is for convenience of the neighbors,” ANC Commissioner Ed Solomon said. “They will not be selling kegs.”
