Total Wine and Target try again to get liquor licenses in Minnetonka

Target and Total Wine are bellying up to the bar, again, in Minnetonka.

After being denied liquor licenses by the city of Minnetonka in 2015 and 2016, respectively, both retailers have submitted new applications to be considered this month by the City Council.

The City Council will vote on Total Wine's application Monday. When the Council turned down Total Wine's application in September, Council Member Brad Wiersum said that he thought that about 10 full-service liquor licenses was enough for the city. The city currently has 11.

After its defeat, Total Wine took steps that would allow the council to reconsider. According to the application it submitted in February, it plans to purchase the assets of Big Top Liquors on Ridgedale Drive and US Liquor & Wine on Hwy. 7 in Minnetonka.

If Total Wine's license is approved, both stores would close.

"I'm surprised they're doing this, but I understand their strategy" said Wiersum. "I probably gave them a road map when I was prescriptive about why I was opposed. They're putting me in a challenging position."

Ravi Jasthi, who has owned US Liquor & Wine in Minnetonka for seven years, said a real estate developer approached him in February about selling the store. "I don't need to sell, but I said if the price was right I'd consider it," he said. "I'm 63. I'd like to retire."

He plans to keep the store open until shortly before the new Total Wine would open. Then it will purchase his remaining inventory, cash registers and shelving.

The Total Wine store in Minnetonka would become its eighth Twin Cities location. Total Wine spokesman Ed Cooper said that the company continues to be asked about locations in White Bear Lake or Coon Rapids but there is "nothing in the works," he said.

The Minnetonka store, if approved, will be in a former Golfsmith location in the Ridgedale Festival Center. Previously, the wine and spirits superstore had selected a space partly filled by Office Depot on Plymouth Road, which still occupies the space.

The new, larger space is about 25,000 square feet, an average size for Total Wine stores in the area. The Ridgedale Plaza location offers fewer parking and traffic concerns, Cooper said.

Cooper is being careful not to assume Total Wine has the five votes required to approve the license. The company decided to buy out the assets of two liquor stores as extra "insurance" to obtain a license.

"This is Minnesota and our experience is always to be cautious and not to count our chickens," he said. The firm experienced a lengthy approval process in Bloomington and has endured criticism from competitors, including civic-owned liquor stores in some municipalities.

Total Wine currently has stores in Bloomington, Burnsville, Chanhassen, Eagan, Maple Grove, Roseville and Woodbury. Nationwide, it has 157 stores in 20 states.

Target's new application will be considered at the Minnetonka council's May 22 meeting.

"Our guests are kind of expecting it [a liquor outlet] when they go into a SuperTarget now in Minnesota," said Joe Contrucci, senior vice president of stores. The Minnetonka store at 4848 County Road 101 was the first in Target's remodeling plan that began in 2015.

According to Target, alcohol is sold in about 1,400 of its 1,850 stores in 38 states. It sells wine and liquor in seven Twin Cities locations. A new location in downtown Minneapolis has been approved and is expected to open early summer.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633