Board approves liquor store ownership change

A Prince Frederick liquor store with high visibility is almost officially under new management.

On Feb. 22, the Calvert County Liquor Board voted unanimously to approve the transfer that makes Kyle McMasters the majority owner of Fox Run Liquors.

McMasters, a Solomons resident, will be the holder of the store’s Class A off-sale, beer, wine and liquor license.

The license allows the merchant to sell the alcoholic beverages in sealed packages or containers for consumption off the premises only.

For years, the store was owned and operated by Aroras LLC of Bowie.

The store is part of the Fox Run Shopping Center in Prince Frederick. The store is located in a 1,750-square-foot unit in the center’s original cluster of shops.

Recently, Fox Run experienced an expansion on its north end. The center, which is managed via Fox Run Limited Partnership by Brixmor Property Group Inc., now has new stores in the location of the strip mall’s original co-anchor, K-Mart, plus several additional businesses in a multi-tenant outparcel building, plus two standalone fast food pad sites.

Fox Run’s assemblage of stores opened in the early 1990s.

“The public enjoys having that store [Fox Run Liquors] at that location,” Nicolas Ferrante, attorney for the applicant said to the board.

In a slight case of Catch 22, the liquor board could not grant the applicant full approval since the property owner had not signed the lease agreement. Ferrante explained to the board that the property owner first wanted the license to be approved.

“The landlord wouldn’t do it that way,” Ferrante said of the lease-first, license later stipulation of the liquor board.

Dale Weems, a board alternate, made the motion to grant McMasters “preliminary approval” of the requested license transfer.

Board member John “Jack” Smack, who chaired the Feb. 22 meeting, said Fox Run Liquors, under Aroras LLC, has always inspected well.