As seen on: The Weekender Brief (NAIOP NJ)

A newly formed advocacy group, BYOB New Jersey, represents a group of small business owners across the Garden State who have organized to fix the broken liquor license law in New Jersey. Local small restaurants are magnets for economic development, and BYOB New Jersey is fighting to allow neighborhood restaurants the opportunity to have local liquor permitting for table service. Specifically, the group is supporting passage of A-3494, Assemblyman John Burzichelli’s bill which creates two new classes of local liquor permits for restaurants: R-1 for wine, beer, and spirits; and R-2 just for beer and wine. No bar service would be permitted, and alcohol would only be served at the table with a meal.
Continue Reading Restaurants Join Together to Support Liquor License Reform

As seen on: ROI-NJ.com
By: Tom Bergeron

In this ROI-NJ interview, Sills Cummis’ Ted Zangari and Jaime Reichardt share their insights on the recently enacted federal Opportunity Zone Program.

Ted Zangari, chair of the Redevelopment Law Practice Group at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. in Newark, is one of the most prominent public incentives and real estate attorneys in the state. His law firm colleague Jaime Reichardt chairs the firm’s state and local tax practice and has advised clients on all sorts of complicated federal and state taxation issues.Continue Reading (Big) Opportunity Knocks: Why Sills Cummis’ Attorneys Feel Opportunity Zones Could Bring ‘Greatest Wealth Transfer in History of Country’

Bill Allows Issuance of Additional Alcoholic Beverage Licenses within Boundaries of Formally Owned or Operated Military Installations

Source: News From The Assembly Democrats

Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Eric Houghtaling, Joann Downey and Joseph Egan to issue additional alcoholic beverage licenses to a project area in three municipalities and at which a federally owned or operated military installation is closed and transferred to a government entity for the purpose of conversion, redevelopment, or revitalization advanced Monday in the Assembly.

Under the current law, a municipality may issue one plenary retail consumption license, for bars and restaurants, for each 3,000 of its population. This bill provides that an increase in population resulting from residential development in a formerly federally owned or operated military installation would not be included in the calculation issued to new licenses.Continue Reading Bill Expanding Issuance of Alcoholic Beverage Licenses Advances

As seen on: NJ1015.com
By: Michael Symons 

After years of talk, a bill that could significantly expand the number of restaurants that can sell beer, wine and spirits has finally gotten an initial vote in the Legislature.

The plan is likely to be altered as it moves ahead, and last week’s action by the Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee was designed in part to compel more serious conversations about the long-discussed but long-delayed prospect of ending strict limits on liquor licenses that date to the end of Prohibition…Continue Reading NJ Getting Ready to Allow More Bars, Restaurants that Serve Alcohol

As seen on: NJ.com
By: Paul Mulshine 

In all my travels south of the Mexican border I have never come across a beach town, no matter how small, that lacked a store that would sell you a cold beer on the same terms as a cold soda.

The towns without electricity were actually the best. There, the beer-and-soda truck would deliver a huge block of ice with the beverages.  If you reached down far enough, the beer would be so cold that it would freeze when you popped the cap…Continue Reading In New Jersey, Drinkers May Finally Triumph Uber the Liquor Cartel

As seen on: The Town Crier
(New Jersey State League of Municipalities’ Legislative Blog)

Our State’s liquor licensing laws date back to the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment in the 1930’s. The world is a different place. And those laws have tended to stifle competition and to hamstring local economic development options.

New Jersey municipalities looking to revitalize downtowns and Main Streets, could use some new tools. Thus, the League of Municipalities supports A-2452, which would create new liquor licenses for restaurants meeting certain criteria…
Continue Reading Hopes Are High for Legislative Action on Restaurant Liquor License Bill

As seen on: jonschultz.com
By: Jonathan Schultz

Online retailers like Amazon have completely transformed the way we go shopping. We now have access to a 24-hour selection of everything we could possibly want, and the expansion of warehouses and logistical hubs mean that our biggest retailers can ship our items to us quicker than ever. If you’ve fully embraced the online marketplace, you’re not alone. Millions of people are ditching brick-and-mortar stores for internet shopping, and big box companies are feeling it.

The good news about competition is that it breeds creativity and ingenuity. Brick-and-mortar retailers have to now come up with exciting new ways to keep their customer bases, and one of these popular methods is pop-up shops. They used to be more prevalent for seasonal sales like Halloween, now they’re trendy, effective, and easy to implement, making them the go-to marketing strategy for retailers. Here are some reasons why pop-ups are brick-and-mortar retailers compete with online shipping.
Continue Reading 3 Hidden Benefits Retailers Love about Pop-Ups

As seen on: NJSpotlight.com
By: Tara Nurin

After decades of listening to restaurateurs gripe about the often prohibitively high cost of a liquor license, New Jersey lawmakers are poised to debate a bill that could dramatically lower their price and increase the quantity available. Since 1947, the state has restricted the number of licenses a municipality can issue, basing the formula on population. The limit has been raised several times since; currently, a town may issue up to one plenary retail consumption license, which allows for on-premises consumption at bars and restaurants, per every 3,000 residents and up to one plenary retail distribution license, which permits off-premises retail sales at liquor stores, per 7,500 residents. A municipality may choose to allow fewer or none of these plenary licenses, while localities with fewer than 3,000 or 7,500 people may issue a total of one license per category.
Continue Reading Explainer: Why It’s So Tough to Get an NJ Liquor License — and What Can Be Done