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Attachment 16Engelhardt, Karen Attachment #16 From: JASON <jason.kleinprintz@comcast.net> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2015 4:06 PM To: City Council Cc: Engelhardt, Karen Subject: Total Wine Liquor License Attachments: MLBA Package Total Wine.pdf, Sandra Johnson Letter.pdf Honorable Mayor and City Council Members, My name is Jason Kleinprintz. My wife & I own the MGM Liquor Store franchise in Chanhassen. We are a small family business whose employees are all local. We send our 3 children to Chapel Hill Academy in Chanhassen and are very active in the Chanhassen community. We appreciate your support of small, local businesses. Chanhassen's small businesses and their individual personalities are a large part of what gives Chanhassen its unique, small-town character that has helped earn it a best place to live designation more than once. We view competition as healthy for the business community, thus we are not adverse to new competitors and have never before opposed a new competitor to the market. However, I would like to point out that big -box competition (like Total Wine) comes to town with vastly superior resources which generally tend to decrease competition over time, not increase competition. Though the across-the-board pricing in Total Wine stores isn't always technically under cost, predominately its pricing on virtually all national brands comes close enough to constitute predatory pricing, which is harmful to competitors and thus illegal, and will be especially punishing to the community's small businesses in an already - saturated market. To illustrate the impact that big box retailers have on small businesses I would like to draw your attention to the recent story of The Four Firkins, which is included below. The Four Firkins was a locally -owned craft beer retailer with two locations: St. Louis Park and Oakdale. Recently, the City of St. Louis Park approved a liquor license for Target, and a Total Wine store opened in Roseville, not far from The Four Firkins located in Oakdale. Please read the attached communication from The Four Firkins, who closed its doors at both locations just a few weeks ago due to the impact of these big box competitors. Second, the Haskell's in Burnsville closed last year, shortly after Total Wine opened its doors. Additionally, other small liquor stores located near the Roseville Total Wine have closed their doors since Total Wine came to that city. More will follow. As you and the Carver County Sheriff's Office do your research into the details of Total Wine's application for their prospective business in our community, I expect that the Sherriff s Office has probably provided you with information from other cities that have considered Total Wine's applications in the last year. As I am sure you are aware, the City of Bloomington conducted the most thorough of those evaluations and took many months to do so. In spite of the extensive evidence, public testimony, and recommendations from their own City Attorney, they looked past disreputable past practices, incomplete and false applications, and the best interests of the City's residents and approved the license. There was no explanation by those voting to approve. It was very confusing. You have probably already seen Sandra Johnson's (Bloomington City Attorney) findings and recommendations (public documents), but just in case, they are attached. Please remember: Total Wine's profits are largely taken out of the community, unlike small family-owned businesses, such as ours. Virtually all of our profits stay in the Chanhassen community where we send our kids to school, and primarily where we shop & frequent restaurants. We bank in the community, our kids have attended numerous courses at Foss Swim School, we support local charities, the list goes on and on of all the ways our money keeps going back into the community above & beyond merely paying local taxes. MN Courts at all levels have held that "Municipal authorities have broad discretion to determine the manner in which liquor licenses are issued, regulated, and revoked." I hope and expect that the Chanhassen City Council will be true to the best interests of our small community and its businesses when considering this application. I request that you table the Total Wine offsale liquor license application until: 1) a complete and exhaustive Chanhassen City Council discussion can occur regarding liquor licensing in the city, and 2) the Chanhassen City Council is properly able to assess the true wishes of its citizens and business owners once they are properly informed of what the true impact of granting a liquor license to Total Wine would constitute. On behalf of my family, who own and operate our store (a franchise), and our employees, thank you for your efforts on behalf of all residents and businesses in the City of Chanhassen. Please feel free to contact me any time. Best personal regards, Jason Kleinprintz 612-237-6119 MGM Chanhassen Attachments: 1) Letter from Sandra Johnson, City Attorney for Bloomington. 2) MLBA Talking Points (Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association) I will forward you additional attachments in subsequent emails that I hope you will find to be pertinent to your decision. The Four Firkins is closing. It is with great sadness that I announce the closing of The Four Firkins. Friday, June 26, will be the last day of operation for the Oakdale store and Saturday, June 27, will be the last for the St. Louis Park store. Due to increased competition from big -box retailers and grocery stores as well as other factors (highway closures, Sunday sales laws), we are unable to continue to provide the high-quality, personalized retail experience we expect and our customers deserve. It's disappointing, but ultimately, I feel it's the right decision. The last eight years working with this incredible staff, in this vibrant community, and serving our customers every day, have been more fun and meaningful than I could possibly put into words. I appreciate all the energy everyone has put into making the Firkins what it is - a true home for beer lovers and a supporter of our communities. Thank you all for the business, the memories and the friendship. We had a good run and did some amazing things. I'll treasure the experience forever Jason Alvey and The Four Firkins team. -elhardt, Karen From: JASON <jason.kleinprintz@corncast.net> Sent-, Tuesday, July 21, 2015 5:32 PM To: Laufenburger, Denny Cc: Engelhardt, Karen Subject: Re: Total Wine Violations Part 1 True, the references are from and related to cities that have already approved liquor licenses for Total Wine & Spirits. However, I want to ensure that the Chanhassen City Council has all the same information before it as other cities had when it considers this matter because the City of Chanhassen is vastly different from the cities of Burnsville, Bloomington, Roseville and Woodbury. Chanhassen is a small town with a small town feel and small businesses that are family-owned mainly by local people within the community who keep their profits here. In Chanhassen, our business community primarily serves our local population; the vast majority of our customer base comes from within a 5 -mile radius. The other cities who have approved Total Wine applications are major retail hubs and drive-through cities whose retailers sell to a variety of customers who come from all around to shop there and drive through tho Se communities on the way home f ro m work. Take Bloomington for instance: customers drive to and through Bloomington to go to Minneapolis, or the Mall of America, or REI, or a baby store, or Dick's Sporting Goods, or Southdale, or Southtown, or the Galleria, or other specialty stores that smaller communities do not have and cannot support. Those communities are where Total Wine stores belong - thus, on their way through Bloomington, customers can also stop in at Total Wine and pick up some beverages. Customers from many communities are being served by the already - existing Total Wine locations and Total Wine seems to fit those cities' profile much better than Chanhassen. A Total Wine in Chanhassen would mainly only sell to nearby residents as shoppers in Chanhassen are rarely coming from other cities to Chanhassen for other shopping or restaurants that don't exist in the communities where those people live - with a Total Wine, now some people might come to the area for liquor, but little else. Since the total alcohol consumption wouldn't drastically increase in Chanhassen if a Total Wine came to town, a Total Wine in Chanhassen would thus take sales from those small businesses who have been part building and serving the exceptional small- town community for so many years. To the extent that Total Wine does draw in customers from other towns, a Total Wine in Chanhassen would then harm small liquor stores in other nearby cities as well, such as Chaska, Victoria, Eden Prairie, Waconia, Carver, etc. We oppose Total Wine not because it's new competition, rather because 1) It is extremely unfair competition that will significantly decrease the competition in town rather than increase it as several small businesses be forced to close down over the next several years, and 2) Total Wine is not a good fit for the City Chanhassen. Thank you very much for your consideration, Jason From: "Denny Laufenburger"<DLaufenburger@ci.chanhassen.mn.us> To: "JASON" <jason. kleinprintz@comcast. net> Cc: "Karen Engelhardt" <KEngelhardt@ci.chanhassen.mn.us> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2015 5:37:11 PM Subject: Re: Total Wine Violations Part 1 Dear Jason - Thank you for taking time to prepare the information that you sent in the three e-mail messages. will make sure that your emails and their contents become part of the public record for the Council's review on June 27th. As a note, many of your references are related to cities that have already granted liquor licenses in support of the applications by Total Wine. Do you have any letters or correspondence that relate specifically to the Chanhassen application? Thank you for your continued interest in and participation in the development of our community. Denny Laufenburger Mayor - City of Chanhassen 612-327-6800 iPad Originated On Jul 17, 2015, at 4:25 PM, JASON <aason.kleinprintz _comcast.net> wrote: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members, Attached please find extensive lists of Total Wine Violations and disregard for regulations Please feel free to contact me any time. Best personal regards, Jason Kleinprintz 612-237-6119 MGM Chanhassen <1 Total Wine Violations Table of Contents.pdf> <2 Total Wine AZ Violations.pdf> <3 Total Wine CN Violations.pdf> <4 Total Wine DE Violations.pdf> <5 Total Wine Florida Violations.pdf> <6 Total Wine Georgia Violations.pdf> <7 Total Wine MD Violations.pdf> <8 Total Wine NJ Violations.pdf>