Selectmen Approve Liquor License for New Pharmacy

Soon, Mansfield residents may be able to get some wine with their medicine. On July 10, the selectmen voted 3-1-1 to allow Lauretta Okoye to sell alcohol at her business Community Care Pharmacy to open at 214 Rumford Avenue. The liquor license was the final one available.

Chairman Jess Apowitz voted no and selectmen Doug Annino abstained from voting because he helped design the building.

Okoye comes to Mansfield with 17 years of experience as a licensed pharmacist and as an owner of a pharmacy on Tremont Street in Roxbury Crossing which is no longer open. She does have plans to open up a new location on Dorchester Avenue in Boston.

The selectmen were initially unsure of the business model as very few, if any pharmacy in Massachusetts sell alcohol.

The most similar example that anyone on the board could think of was Produce Barn on Route 140 in Norton which functions as a grocery store, hardware store, and liquor store.

Selectman Olivier Kozlowski was not sure of the need for another liquor store with at least four in a half-mile radius but was willing to give the business a chance.

“While it’s new to me, if that’s the business model that you are contemplating, it’s not government's place to say we hate your business model,” Kozlowski said.

Okoye responded that there are other parts of the country where alcohol is sold inside pharmacies.

“It’s not a new model of business. There’s so many pharmacies that have wine and beer and it’s not here,” Okoye said.

Kevin Moran was also wary of adding another liquor store but also believed the business could be successful.

“This is something different, this is something that may work but I’m struggling with allocating the last liquor license,” Moran said.

Responding to Apowitz’s concerns about how much time Okoye would spend at her Mansfield location while running other establishments, Okoye said she would be able to spend time in her Mansfield store because she will have managers runner her other businesses.

Community Care Pharmacy will take up 2,000 square feet inside 214 Rumford Avenue.