Walmart Market purchases Palm Side's liquor license

ALAMOGORDO – City Commission held a public hearing during their bi-monthly meeting to discuss approving the sale of Palm Side's liquor license to the Walmart Neighborhood Market.

City Clerk Nancy Jacobs started the discussion with her report that all the paperwork was in and Walmart had been given the preliminary approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Division of the State of New Mexico.

"I'm just a little concerned that we're transferring a local licquor license to a big company and for some reason that company decides not to stay here, we could possibly lose that licquor license and there's only so many available locally in the state," said Mayor Pro-Tem Al Hernandez. "We still have quite a few licquor licenses here... and I've seen a lot of licquor licenses head up north. Just a small concern and I wanted to voice that."

Representing Walmart attorney Mark Rhodes took to the podium to address Hernandez's concerns.

"I've been doing liquor licensing work in New Mexico for about 30 years," Rhodes said. "I actually litigated tons of cases early on to clarify the law and your concern is a normal concern but I'll tell you why it's not necessarily something you have to worry about."

Rhodes explained that originally licenses were population based and there was only two types of licenses – dispenser license and retailers.

"If you were a bar, you would get a dispenser and if you were a grocery story, you'd get a retailer," he said. "There's only 78 retailers in the state, they're so far priced out of the market that they don't really affect Alamogordo at all. They're barely capable of being afforded in Santa Fe."

Rhodes said when the original dispenser licenses moved north, they lost package sale privileges.

"That doesn't sound that alarming but what happened was you had a complete change in the buyers," he said. "You went from mom and pop kind of stores that had a package to go with their bar to the box stores – CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Pic Quik – the only license they can buy have to have a package component. Essentially, they have to be part of the original licenses issued at one per 2,000 in 1982."

Rhodes said in the 1990s there was a period of time where all the corporate restaurants moving into the state needed those licenses and were buying them out of small towns for $800,000. Rhodes said a dispenser license with package privileges in Alamogordo is worth $600,000 and the chances that it will stay in Alamogordo are overwhelming.

"The short answer is...it's highly unlikely Walmart will close – they're like a rash," Rhodes said. "Second if they were to close, the chances are overwhelming that you would have one of the other buyer class here in southern New Mexico – CVS, Walmart, Pic Quik — would want that package license. They don't move anymore."

Hernandez moved the approval of transferring the liquor license, it was seconded by Commissioner Erica Martin and passed 7-0.

The Daily News attempted to contact the owner of Palm Side seeking comment for this story but telephone calls were never returned.