A new liquor store is on tap for Seymour this fall.
Warren Scheidt, co-owner of Cork Liquors, said if everything goes as planned, he and his family will be opening a 4,800-square-foot store offering a large selection of craft, domestic and imported beer, wine, liquor and cigars on the city’s west side the first of October.
In February 2019, the Scheidts announced they were purchasing the liquor license owned by Hildreth’s Liquor Mart, which closed last year after Schneck Medical Center bought the property it was located on at 512 W. Tipton St.
Construction on Cork Liquors got underway earlier this month in the vacant lot in the 1100 block of West Tipton Street near the Gary Welker State Farm Insurance office in front of the former Save-A-Lot grocery store in the West Towne Plaza.
Scheidt said the location is good for Cork because other liquor stores in the city are on the north and east sides, and he didn’t want to build too close to them.
“Being on the west side was a plus,” he said.
He sees the new location as a great move for his family’s business. He co-owns Cork Liquors with his brother, Don R. Scheidt. They own and operate seven Cork Liquors in Columbus, four in Shelbyville, one in Greensburg and are planning to be in Edinburgh soon, too. They got their first liquor license in 1981 and opened their first Cork Liquors store in 1982.
“We’ve wanted to be there for a long time,” he said of Seymour. “And this is a good spot for us. It’s a vacant lot that’s front and center along U.S. 50.”
Scheidt said they could have moved into an existing building, such as a strip mall, but wanted to start from the ground up.
“This location enables us to build the store we want to build,” he said. “We could have done it cheaper, but we didn’t want to deal with remodeling.”
The project is being financed locally through JCB, and the primary contractor is Goecker Construction.
“We try to use local as much as possible,” Scheidt said. “It’s a good thing to do, and it’s the right thing to do.”
With banks and contractors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project has been delayed some.
“We’re getting started later than we had hoped, but the virus hasn’t helped with that,” Scheidt said. “Everyone is having to deal with it.”
It’s also affecting the supply chain as deliveries are being delayed, he said.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said. “But we are going to have as big a selection as we can.”
Although the building will be ready by early September, Warren said it will take time to get everything stocked and ready to open Oct. 1.
Besides bottled and canned products, the store will have kegs on hand and will feature a tasting bar and special section for Indiana beers, wines and spirits and will special order products for customers, Scheidt said.
Cork will be open seven days a week and plans to continue to offer curbside service for customers as a safe and convenient way to shop. Scheidt said customers soon will be able to place their order through an online app and then swing by and have it loaded in their vehicle by an employee.
The business will be hiring eight to 10 employees to staff the store, he said.
Anyone interesting in applying can fill out an application online at corkliquor.com/employment-at-cork.
“We’ll be starting the hiring process soon,” Scheidt said.