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鈥檚 tough to do business in his hometown. The county Department of Liquor Control鈥檚 practices are costing him and his customers.
鈥淧eople come into my restaurants in D.C., and then they come into Bethesda and they say, 鈥榟uh, this beer is three dollars more, or two dollars more,鈥� and they just don鈥檛 understand,鈥� Shull said.
This week, a supplier sent notices to Montgomery County restaurants saying future deliveries could be cut off because it hadn鈥檛 been paid. Shull puts the blame on the county鈥檚 shoulders.
George Griffin, director of the county鈥檚 liquor control department, said the issue stemmed from the county鈥檚 practice of reconciling orders before paying the tab. 鈥淭here was a series of reconciliations that had to take place on a series of invoices from this one particular supplier,鈥� Griffin said. 鈥淭he county will not pay a vendor unless the bill is reconciled.鈥�
Councilman Roger Berliner said the county shouldn鈥檛 be in the alcohol distribution business. 鈥淭hat may be county policy, but that鈥檚 not how the retail real world works,鈥� he said. 聽
Berliner says Montgomery County gets a net benefit of $30 million a year in revenues from the liquor control operations, but he鈥檚 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.
鈥淲ell, I should hope so, considering the starting point,鈥� 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.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 get those in a timely fashion,鈥� Shull said, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 very frustrating.鈥�
Shull said he doesn鈥檛 fault the workers at the county鈥檚 liquor control department: 鈥淲e have great relationships with the licensing department, and I have nothing but praise for them. So it鈥檚 not their fault.鈥�
Berliner said it would take state legislation to change the way the county鈥檚 alcohol laws are structured. Shull said he鈥檚 ready to go to Annapolis when the General Assembly session begins in January.
And while there鈥檚 support from lawmakers, he won鈥檛 say yet which ones are taking that position. For Shull, allowing restaurants and bars to deal directly with special order distributors 鈥渋s a huge step in the right direction.鈥�
草莓传媒’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
