Goldberg?s Liquors in Brooklyn Park started as a general store before Prohibition, and a century later the business retains a small-town, customer-first ambiance.
The store?s old-fashioned customer service means “never having customers wait in line and knowing customers by their first names,” said owner Allen Aronstein, whose parents, Arthur and Linda, bought the store in 1972. “My father, who was a liquor salesman with wholesaler Kronheim, had wanted to buy for years because he loved the neighborhood and the people,” he said.
Through the years, the people have become “smarter consumers and much more knowledgeable of product offerings,” Aronstein said, adding that he has witnessed first-hand the national trend of flat to modest growth in beer sales coinciding with a marked increase in sales for wine and spirits.
And while alcohol accounts for the vast majority of Goldberg?s sales ? 20 percent of which is sold at the only drive-through liquor window inside the Beltway ? lottery sales are also swift, with Goldberg?s earning the reputation as a lucky charm after selling tickets worth $5.8 million and $1.3 million.
The Aronsteins? love for their northern Anne Arundel County community is visible in 34 years? worth of photos lining the walls ? photos that show all of the Brooklyn Park Youth Athletic Association baseball, basketball and soccer teams Goldberg?s has sponsored.
In recent years, despite their continued sponsorship, Goldberg?s name has been removed from team uniforms in line with the store?s efforts to prevent underaged drinking.
“Kids don?t even come in, because they know we are very strict with IDing,” Aronstein said.
But for all its efforts to promote responsible drinking and being a good neighbor (Goldberg?s works with the Century Council, an organization dedicated to fighting drunken driving and underaged drinking, and the Anne Arundel County License Beverage Association, which keeps members abreast of changing laws and regulations), a threat to Goldberg?s very survival perpetually looms just over the horizon.
“There is always pending legislation for multiple licensing,” said Aronstein, referring to the possibility of chain stores like Giant and Wal-Mart obtaining more than the state-mandated one license per off-premise location.
If multiple licensing came to Maryland, as it has to nearby Delaware, mom-and-pop liquor stores would go the way of butcher shops and bakeries, consumed by massive national retailers with huge advertising budgets and poor customer service, Aronstein said.
In the meantime, Aronstein is focused on the imminent face-lift for Goldberg?s iconic neon sign, which has stood since the 1940s and is set to gleam anew by summer?s end.
ABOUT THE STORE
» Goldberg?s Liquors
5106 Ritchie Highway
Brooklyn, MD 21225
» Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday
» 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday
» Employees: 15
