Opinion ID: 1970140
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Grocery Store Defined Liquor License Prohibition

Text: For almost fifty years, it has been unlawful in Delaware for any owner, lessee or manager conducting a grocery store, delicatessen or cigar store to sell or dispense alcoholic liquors on its premises. 42 Del. Laws c. 186. The present statute states, in pertinent part: § 516. Consumption off premises of hotel, restaurant, club, store or taproom. (a) Any person in charge of a hotel, restaurant, club or store ( other than a grocery, delicatessen or cigar store ), whether owner, lessee or manager, and recognized as such by the Commission, may apply to the Commission for a license to purchase and to keep and sell and deliver on the premises only spirits, wine or beer by the bottle or half bottle only, but not for consumption on the premises where sold, or in any dependency thereof. 4 Del. C. § 516(a) (emphasis added). Sam's argues that it is not a grocery store, but rather a no-frills, working warehouse. Sam's presented evidence that it carries over three thousand brand-name items, including office supplies, appliances, home furnishings, clothing and jewelry. Sam's argues that a grocery store does not have this type of inventory. Nevertheless, Sam's acknowledges that food items comprise the bulk of its sales. The term grocery store is not defined by statute. Undefined terms in a statute are construed according to their common and approved usage. Moore v. Wilmington Housing Authority, Del.Supr., 619 A.2d 1166, 1173 (1993). A grocery is defined as the place of business of a retail grocer. [1] Grocer is defined as a dealer in staple foodstuffs (as coffee, sugar, flour) and usually meats and other foods (as fruits, vegetables, dairy products) and any household supplies (as soap, matches, paper napkins). [2] The Superior Court concluded the fact that Sam's is unlike a traditional corner grocery store is not determinative of its legal status. For purposes of the statutory prohibition, the Superior Court construed the word grocery according to its ordinary and common meaning. The Superior Court held that a store such as Sam's, which sells mostly food items for take-home personal use, is a grocery store. The Superior Court properly decided to attribute the commonly understood meaning to the word grocery. The Superior Court's conclusion that Sam's warehouse is a grocery store is supported by the record. Accordingly, the Superior Court's ruling that Sam's warehouse is a grocery store was the product of a logical and deductive reasoning process.