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***UPDATE (Oct. 7, 2019)***
The Kettering Wine & Spirits state liquor-agency store that opened in late August next to Elsa's Kettering Sports Grill will host a grand opening and special bourbon release on Friday, Oct. 11.
The 8,200-square-foot store is located at 1218 E. Stroop Road in the Fairmont Shopping Plaza.
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“This is a brand new store that opened as part of our Agency Expansion Initiative,” Lindsey LeBerth, brand manager for the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control, told this news outlet. “Twenty-five (new stores) overall statewide have opened since early 2018, with six more scheduled.”
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Friday’s grand opening coincides with the release of two Jefferson’s distillery single-barrel bourbons. Kettering Wine & Spirits will be one of only eight state liquor stores in Ohio, and the only one in the Dayton area, that will sell bottles of Jefferson’s Reserve and Ocean Reserve 17 from single barrels selected specifically for Ohio release. The special bourbons go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday.
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“Our team worked with Master Blender Trey Zoeller to choose Jefferson's Reserve and Ocean Reserve 17 single barrel products for Ohio,” Jim Canepa, superintendent of the liquor-control agency, said in a release. “These are the first two Jefferson's releases, with three more to come in 2020. Trey helped us choose the best of the best for our bourbon lovers, and they're sure not to disappoint.”
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Canepa and other division of liquor control officials are scheduled to attend the ribbon-cutting, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday. The special bourbons go on sale at 9 a.m. The Jefferson Reserve single-barrel will sell for $49.99 a bottle; the Ocean — which gains some accelerated oak maturity because it spends time on the rolling seas while still in cask —will cost $74.98.
The store, operated by the same family that operates Springboro Wine & Spirits, also offers an array of wines and beer. The space previously housed Run Around Fun Town.
Kettering Wine & Spirits manager Gary Bhatara said customer response during the store’s first five weeks has been positive.
“People love it,” Bhatara said. “They like the size of the store, the open space, and our selection, which continues to grow. We are getting busier and busier every week.”
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***PREVIOUS UPDATE (Aug. 26, 2019)***
The spacious Kettering Wine & Spirits store that had been under construction next to Elsa's Kettering Sports Grill is now open to the public.
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The 8,200-square-foot store at 1218 E. Stroop Road in the Fairmont Plaza obtained a state-approved license to sell full-powered liquor and spirits, and it also offers an array of wines and beer. The space previously housed Run Around Fun Town.
G.B. Bhatara, owner of Springboro Wine & Spirits, owns Kettering Wine & Spirits. Bhatara said Kettering Wine & Spirits is planning to host a grand opening in two to three weeks.
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Initial plans for the store hit a snag in Kettering zoning rules that prohibited stores that sell alcohol for off-site consumption from opening near churches and child-care centers. But on March 26, Kettering City Council approved a change to its zoning code that eliminated those requirements.
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“This was acceptable, in part, because the state of Ohio restricts the number of licenses for such establishments in any given area to prevent over-saturation,” Stacy Wall Schweikhart, Kettering’s community information manager, told this news outlet earlier this year.
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Hours for Kettering Wine & Spirits are Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and closed Sundays. A store manager said plans call for seeking the necessary license and approvals to open on Sundays.
***PREVIOUS UPDATE (May 17, 2019***
When he first confirmed plans in December 2018, the owner of what will soon be the Dayton area’s newest liquor store, Kettering Wine & Spirits at 1218 E. Stroop Road, had hoped to open the new shop in April.
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Those initial plans were put on hold by city of Kettering zoning rules that prohibited stores that sell alcohol for off-site consumption from opening near churches and child-care centers.
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But on March 26, Kettering City Council approved a change to its zoning code that eliminated those locational requirements.
“This was acceptable, in part, because the state of Ohio restricts the number of licenses for such establishments in any given area to prevent over-saturation,” Stacy Wall Schweikhart, Kettering’s community information manager, told this news outlet.
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That action paved the way for the build-out to resume at the 8,200-square-foot space adjacent to Elsa’s Mexican Restaurant & Sports Bar in the Fairmont Plaza Shopping Center.
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G.B. Bhatara, owner of Springboro Wine & Spirits, will own and operate Kettering Wine & Spirits.
“We’re working on the remodeling,” Bhatara said this week. “We are hoping to open the last week of July.”
***ORIGINAL STORY (Dec. 21, 2018)***
A new, large-scale state agency liquor store and wine and beer shop called Kettering Wine & Spirits is scheduled to open this spring in the Fairmont Plaza Shopping Center in Kettering.
The owner of Springboro Wine & Spirits, G.B. Bhatara, will be the owner of Kettering Wine & Spirits, located at 1218 East Stroop Road at Marshall Road, right next door to the Elsa's Mexican Restaurant & Sports Bar.
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Renovations are already underway in the 8,200-square-foot space that previously housed Run Around Fun Town.
“We are shooting to open the first or second week of April,” Bhatara told this news outlet this morning.
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Bhatara said he has been operating the Springboro state agency liquor store for more than 10 years and wanted to expand.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Division of Liquor Control confirmed this afternoon, Dec. 21, that the division has awarded a state liquor store agency at the Stroop Road address.
The new wine and spirits shop will employ nine or 10, Bhatara said.
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