Grand Rapids' Lucky's Downtown Market Liquor License Revoked

LARA Communications 517-335-LARA (5272)
Email: mediainfo@michigan.gov

January 23, 2019 - At yesterday’s Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) hearing in Lansing, commissioners ordered a revocation of the liquor license and permits held by Payal and Ella LLC, – doing business as Lucky’s Downtown Market – located at 24 Division Ave S, Grand Rapids, MI.

Under state law, the MLCC is required to suspend or revoke the liquor license if a licensee is found liable for three or more violations of MCL 436.1801(2) – sales of alcohol to minors and sales of alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons – on different occasions within a 24-month period.

Lucky’s Downtown Market was found liable for seven violations in less than a one-year period. On August 10, 2017 and June 6, 2018, the selling clerk sold alcohol to minors 20 years of age. Identification was not asked for in either of these incidents. On May 25, 2018, June 8, 2018, June 14, 2018, July 6, 2018, and July 22, 2018, the selling clerk sold alcohol to an intoxicated patron.

In reference to ongoing issues with liquor control violations by Lucky’s and ongoing issues with indecent exposure, urinating in public, and consuming alcohol in public, Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) had conducted surveillance on Lucky’s and the area in general, resulting in these recent violations reported by the GRPD:

• On June 14, 2018, police officers observed a male assaulting a female 0.2 miles away from Lucky’s. The male was holding a bottle of unopened liquor that he had just purchased from Lucky’s Downtown Market. At the time the male was taken into custody, he was visibly intoxicated and registered .217 on a preliminary breath test, almost three times the legal limit.
• On July 6, 2018, an officer observed a female walking down the middle of the street after purchasing alcoholic beverages from Lucky’s. When asked why she was walking down the middle of the street, the female replied that she was drunk. The officer administered a preliminary breath test where the female registered .212, almost three times the legal limit.

The Commission found that, during the hearing, there was no demonstration made by the licensee to mitigate their history of violations. There was nothing to indicate that the licensee had conducted additional trainings, written employee policies, terminated responsible employees, or implemented new technologies to prevent the future sale of alcohol to minors or prevent the sale of alcohol to visibly intoxicated individuals.  

“The licensee has shown a pattern of indifference to the real dangers of selling alcohol to minors and visibly intoxicated individuals,” said MLCC Chairman Andy Deloney. “The licensee failed to demonstrate any policies and procedures that would protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; the Commission decided that revocation was the proper course of action to take.”

For more information about the MLCC, please visit http://www.michigan.gov/lcc
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