Bethel's vote for local option alcohol control means that the only liquor store in town, Caribou Traders, is closing. General Manager Todd Perez says that the plan for Caribou Traders is pretty simple.
“We’ll cease operation per the state on Jan. 6. And so at that point, we’ll convert this into a different type of business,” said Perez.
He says that the liquor store might be turned into housing, or retail space, or maybe even a restaurant. But the original plan was for Perez to buy the liquor store. He currently just manages it.
“We were going through a purchase or acquisition, but with that vote we just continued to operate as a general management company,” Perez said.
Kusko Liquor had also planned to transfer its liquor license to AC, but that transfer will become void as well.
With Caribou Traders closing, the city of Bethel will lose some of its tax revenue. In the Fiscal Year 2020 budget, the city projected that it would receive $500,000 in alcohol sales tax. Perez says that estimate was low.
“For year 2019, we’re paying somewhere around the $900,000 mark that we’d be contributing to the alcohol tax that’s paid to the City of Bethel,” Perez said.
Acting City Manager Bill Howell says that the city administration is usually conservative in its revenue projections.
Some Bethel residents may be curious if there will be any going out of business sales.
“As we get closer there will be some price reductions,” Perez said. “Obviously, we need to get rid of the product at the end.”
But Perez says people shouldn’t expect huge discounts, and he has some final words as general manager of Caribou Traders.
“To be honest, we'd just like to say thank you for the last year’s support,” Perez said. “People vote. That’s the democratic way, and we honor that. That's just the way it is.”
Perez says that he’ll still be in Bethel. He recently bought Q2 on Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway, and he says that he’s converting the old laundromat there into a restaurant.
