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Two neighborhood convenience stores agree to phase out single‑serve alcohol, add cameras and hourly litter pickup
Summary
Owners of National Grocery and Good Spot Foods told the Licenses Committee they will remove many single‑serve beer and small spirit items, install cameras and increase outside cleanups, after months of negotiation with aldermen and neighborhood groups.
After several months of meetings with neighborhood groups and the Licenses Committee, owners of two convenience stores in the Clark Square / 30th & National corridor told the committee they will stop selling a long list of single‑serve alcoholic products and adopt new neighborhood‑focused policies.
The owner/operators of National Grocery (30 Fifth & National) and the related Good Spot location (20 Second & National) presented lists of items they will remove from sale, including many 12‑, 16‑ and 24‑ounce single‑serve beer cans and several 50ml to 200ml “mini” spirit bottles commonly sold as single‑serve shots. Both businesses agreed to a six‑month phase‑out to sell through existing inventory and to switch to larger‑format products and higher‑end alcoholic beverages that are not marketed as single‑serve convenience items.
Both stores also pledged operational changes aimed at reducing public disorder and litter: a dedicated staffer responsible for outside litter pickup, four scheduled outdoor cleanups per day, installation of exterior security cameras, and a small incident logbook kept on site to record disturbances that occur outside the premises. The store operators said they will cooperate with neighborhood organizations (Clark Square Neighborhood Initiative; VIA CDC) and aldermanic staff to coordinate how the new measures are monitored.
Neighborhood representatives and community organizations addressed the committee in support of the amended plans. They told the committee they had previously urged removal of single‑serve convenience alcohol because of observed spillover effects — empty cans and bottles in adjacent streets, increased loitering, and repeated calls for service. Clark Square Neighborhood Initiative and Via CDC officials told the committee they will work with the stores and aldermanic offices to track progress and encouraged a faster phasing where possible; the stores said they would attempt a shorter timeline where feasible but retained a six‑month window to sell existing stock.
Committee members, including the district alderman, praised the compromise as a potential model for other commercial corridors facing similar problems. The Licenses Committee accepted the stores’ amendments to their plans of operation and recommended approval of the licensing actions as amended; in both cases the committee required the changes to be added to the official plan of operation and asked licensing staff to verify compliance in follow‑up inspections.
Neighbors and community groups urged continued monitoring and said they would flag problems promptly to the alderman and licensing staff. Several committee members said they would expect the businesses to return to the committee if problems continue after the six‑month period.
