Biniam Habte saw the opportunity and went for it.
The Bothell resident is the winning bidder in a month-long online auction — which ended April 20 — for the rights to apply for a spirits retail liquor license at two Washington state-run liquor stores. The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) successfully auctioned those rights to licenses at its 167 stores.
Habte’s Seattle stores are at 5105 25th Ave. N.E. ($321,100 bid) and 2840 N.E. Market St. ($208,501 bid).
“It’s a new kind of business, and business is always risky,” Habte said. “We thought it was a great opportunity to own this unique business. We want to be part of it.”
The sum of individual bids totaled $30.75 million, with rights awarded to 121 individual successful bidders. There were 551 registered bidders; 14,627 total bids; 93 individuals who won bids on single stores; and 28 individuals who won bids on multiple stores.
Top bidders for Bothell’s two stores — at 19111 Bothell Way N.E. and 20617 Bothell-Everett Highway — are Balwant Singh of Lacey ($154,100 bid) and Abi Eshagi of Woodinville ($110,800 bid), respectively.
Devinder Sahota of Vacaville, Calif., was the No. 1 bidder for the Kenmore store, 6820 N.E. Bothell Way ($270,900 bid).
“The area looked pretty good. It’s really a good store to invest money into,” Singh said.
Sahota, who is affiliated with the Liquor Barn Enterprises in Redding, Calif., said they bid on quite a few of the stores before landing the Kenmore spot. He added that they’re not sure what their next step in the ownership process will be.
Eshagi couldn’t be reached at post time.
The highest statewide winning bid was $750,100 for a store at 7048 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma; the lowest statewide winning bid was $49,600 for a store at 2401 W. Wellesley Ave. in Spokane.
The sale was required with the passage of Initiative 1183 last November, which privatized the sales from hard alcohol, or spirits. The initiative directed the WSLCB to auction the state store properties at their current location. However, the state leases the properties, not owns, creating a unique circumstance for the auction.
Successful bidders earned the exclusive right to apply for a liquor license at the current location within its current footprint. All state store properties are below the 10,000-square-foot threshold established by the initiative. Successful bidders will need to secure a lease with the property landlord. If they are unable to secure a lease, they may re-sell their right or request an alternative location within a one-mile radius of the existing location.
The WSLCB ran two simultaneous auctions to achieve “maximum reasonable value,” as stated in the initiative. The first was for each individual store. The second was for all store locations available for a single bid, with the state taking the higher of the two. The sum of individual bids exceeded the $4.6 million all-store high bid by a nearly seven-to-one ratio.
Privately-owned liquor retailers may begin selling hard alcohol or spirits on June 1.
