One-store rule

Definition

In New York, a liquor licensee may hold no interest in a second liquor store; Minnesota allows one per city.

Why It Matters

License value prices one license. This decides whether a buyer may hold a second, and in two states the law says no, or one per city. New York bars an off-premises liquor and wine licensee from any interest in another store selling liquor or wine for off-premises consumption, whether by stock, interlocking directors, a mortgage or a lien. Minnesota lets a city issue no more than one off-sale license to any one person, counts officers, directors, employees and affiliates as that person, and bars two of its licensees from sharing a business name. So a New York liquor store is a one-store business by statute, and no buyer there pays for a platform. The buyer pool is narrower too, since a bidder who already holds a store cannot keep both. The lien clause reaches structure as well: a seller who keeps another store cannot take a lien on the one sold to secure a seller note.