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Natural Grocers tells Boulder board it has fixed late‑filing gaps; license renewal approved
Summary
Natural Grocers (Vitamin Cottage) acknowledged repeated late renewal filings and described a new redundancy system (75‑ and 30‑day reminders), POS ID‑scan enforcement and ABT training; the Beverage Licensing Authority approved the fermented malt beverage and wine off‑premise renewal.
Representatives for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage told the City of Boulder Beverage Licensing Authority on June 17 that the company had not always submitted renewal materials on time but has implemented process improvements to prevent recurrence.
Kevin M. Coates, attorney for the applicant, and Sam Young of Natural Grocers' legal department said the company will send a 75‑day preliminary reminder through its licensing software, and a separate 30‑day reminder via internal Outlook to multiple staff and legal contacts. Christina Colson, Director of Store Operations, described an internal learning management system (LMS) assigned at hire, a daily cashier acknowledgement to check IDs, and a policy that prevents register completion for products containing alcohol until the customer's ID scans as valid. External ABT responsible‑vendor training is completed within 60 days of hire and the company monitors compliance through its operations compliance team.
Board members asked why the issue recurred. Sam Young said the problem stemmed from a single point of failure in prior staffing and that the new redundancies and cross‑checks will remedy that. City staff told the board they have reviewed training materials and had no objection to renewal.
Chair Leah Roberts moved to approve the renewal; Member Ginger Barnes seconded and the Authority voted to approve the license renewal. Staff advised that final documents would be sent to the state and the applicant would receive confirmation once the state returns the paperwork.
The hearing record notes application filing on May 4, 2026. Natural Grocers' representatives emphasized that there is no record of sales compliance violations at the store in Boulder.
