Politics & Government

Selectmen Approve Liquor License for Tedeschi

Ziad Greige's plans call for ID'ing every customer.

 

The Dedham Board of Selectmen approved a liquor license for Ziad Greige and in Oakdale Square during a meeting Thursday evening.

Greige pledged to ID every customer that purchases alcohol, a decision hailed by selectmen, and a policy selectman Sarah MacDonald has specifically encouraged stores to adopt since a caught several stores selling to minors.

Find out what's happening in Dedhamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We are going to be ID'ing everybody, no matter their age. First for our safety, and second each time we scan, we record everybody buying beer and wine and that will help us with advertisements," Greige said.

Greige plans to hire more staff, and provide them with in-person alcohol training before selling alcohol.

Find out what's happening in Dedhamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The license comes way of , formerly located at the Dedham Mall. According to Greige's attorney Peter Zahka, the purchase agreement includes several "pledges" to the current license holder, Oakstone Group. Zahka said the agreement includes sharing of revenue from alcohol sales and a minimum amount of stock and square footage that Greige must dedicate to beer and wine.

Greige predicted alcohol sales would account for 10 percent of his overall business as he plans to transform Tedeschi into more of a corner market, offering produce and meats.

"Over the last few years, his business has been down about 20 percent," Zahka told the board. "There's no doubt, from a business perspective, that the sale of beer of wine will help increase sales [...] but it is more than that. He hopes it drives the sale of his other products."

Executives at Tedeschi have drawn plans for a improvements. All improvements to the outside of the building will need approval from the town's Design Review Advisory Board before construction.

MacDonald initially proposed to disallow Greige from selling the license for five years, but then rescinded that caveat before the board unanimously approved the license.

Selectman Carmen Dello Iacono said he was concerned about the proximity to .

"At 3:15 p.m., that's what you have in that store is kids," Dello Iacono said. 

Once the renovation is complete, Greige said he'll have an outside security camera to watch for loiterers, particularly kids.

Two Oakdale residents spoke against Tedeschi receiving the license, commenting that while there may be a desire in town, there isn't a need. Another resident said tight parking could become tighter between an increase in customers and an increase in employees.

"I have a major concern about double-parking that will change the perception about that part of the square," Peter McHenry said.

Zahka said the store is open to finding alternate places for employees to park in order to free up parking in the square.

"Ziad is going to try to address that aspect of it," Zahka said. "We hope it increases the traffic, because if it doesn't, we'll all be in trouble."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here