Montgomery County’s Liquor Store in Chevy Chase To Close Sunday

Location was only one of county's DLC retail stores to lose money, according to 2014 report

By Aaron Kraut

Montgomery County's DLC retail store in Chevy Chase will close Sunday Aaron Kraut

The worst performing Montgomery County liquor store is set to close its doors for good Sunday and is offering 20 percent off the prices of many items as part of a closeout sale.

The county’s Department of Liquor Control (DLC) tweeted Thursday afternoon about the sale at the Chevy Chase store at 11 Wisconsin Circle. An employee at the store confirmed the store’s final day in business will be Sunday.

The location, steps from the Friendship Heights Metro station and Washington, D.C., line, was criticized in a 2014 report commissioned by the DLC that revealed it lost $278,431 in 2013. It was the only one of the county’s 22 retail locations to lose money that year. The report recommended closing the store once its lease ended.

Thanks to the county’s unique degree of control over alcohol, only the DLC can sell liquor for off-premises consumption and it does so through its retail stores. The DLC stores also sell beer and wine, which private retailers can sell for off-premises consumption.

The 2014 report also concluded the county should open more DLC retail store locations to boost its bottom line. The county is doing interior work for a new store near Rockville Town Square and plans to open another new store in the King Farm neighborhood soon.

Greg Ossont, deputy director of the county’s Department of General Services, said this week the county was exploring relocating its downtown Silver Spring DLC retail store to the former home of arts center Pyramid Atlantic on Georgia Avenue, but chose to remain in its Colesville Road spot.