A new liquor store is in the early planning stages for Glassboro New Jersey, with hopes to open in the Glassboro Plaza on Delsea Drive.
According to a public notice, the liquor store is planned for 618 Delsea Drive which is the address of the former Primitive Axe entertainment space in the Glassboro Plaza. Unfortunately, Primitive Axe closed last fall after being sold to new owners in the Spring of 2023.
The retail (off-premises only) liquor license is newly issued by Glassboro, having been sold at auction last year to the highest bidder for $700,100! While I don’t track license sales closely, this seems to be well into the higher range of “liquor store” licenses sold in South Jersey.
Despite the closing of Primitive Axe and the relocation of Big Lots to down the road, Glassboro Plaza is seeing a bit of a resurgence.
The popular Four Season Fitness in the plaza is in the process of an expansion which has them taking over the adjacent former Big Lots location. That expansion will bring indoor pickleball courts, turf areas and additional workout spaces to the fitness center. An opening is expected later this summer.
The new liquor store would be the unit immediately next to the expanded Four Seasons. With the additional foot-traffic of the gym, pickleball courts and liquor store… one would hope this will attract other retailers to fill out the Plaza’s other open spaces, such as the former Sears Hardware store.
For the new liquor store I couldn’t find much on specific future plans at this time. This is still very early in the process.
I am very familiar with the Primitive Axe space though and it is a large retail unit… wide and deep.
A leasing marketing site for Glassboro Plaza at RJ Brunelli shows the unit as being 9,000 square feet. Which would be a larger size for a liquor store, matching the license sale price. The PDF brochure seems to indicate a remodel is planned for the center’s facade.
The liquor license for the upcoming store is newly created, which Glassboro was able to put out for auction last year. This is a retail distribution only license (liquor store sales for off-premises) and can not be used as bar/restaurant.
According to a January 2023 Borough of Glassboro resolution, they were looking for a minimum bid of $500,000 for the license. As mentioned it sold for $700,000!
In New Jersey, liquor licenses are allocated based on town population. Retail liquor store licenses are allocated per 7,500 residents and it seems with the population growth in Glassboro, the Borough qualified for creating this new retail liquor license.
According to details in the public notice the license was awarded to two business partners out of Vineland New Jersey.
Researching them I could not connect them to other area liquor stores… but I will have additional updates on the plans for this new retail liquor store in the future.
Links and Location
Glassboro – New Liquor Store Planned
618 Delsea Drive
Glassboro NJ