Bellevue Liquor Stores Auction for More than $850,000; One Store to Close

Five of the Washington State Liquor Stores in Bellevue brought in more than $850,000 at the state auction that ended last Friday, according to state records.

The total sum of bids for the 161 stores was $30.75 million, according to the Washington State Liquor Contol Board.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board auctioned the state-run stores on the state's Public Surplus website as a result of the , which opened liquor sales to retailers with a footprint of 10,000 square feet who apply for liquor licenses. The law requires the state to get out of the liquor sales business by June 1, 2012. 

The footprints of the existing stores are the only exception to the law's footprint requirement, according to the state. , with some exceptions (listed here on the state liquor control board website).

The bids were for the licenses to the locations; the inventory was not included with the purchases, according to the state. 

The winning bids and stores in Bellevue are:

• Factoria: $125,100, Rae Cho, Puyallup
• Crossroads: $136,000, Devinder S Sahota, Vacaville, Calif. (Also won two other store auctions)
• : $210,100, DreamX LLC, Kirkland
• : $175,000, Jeff Brown 7-Eleven Inc, Bellevue
• : $210,100, Kulbir Singh, Brazil, Indiana (Also won eight other store auctions)

And, separately, the Eastgate Washington State Liquor Store is set to close as a result of state liquor store employees leaving for other jobs, the Washington State Liquor Control Board reported.

The Eastgate store is one of 14 closures that will compensate for employee shortages, according to the Washington State Liquor Control Board. The closure of the stores is not related to the state liquor store auction, according to a press release.

“These stores were strategically chosen to minimize any disruption to our service areas,” said Retail Director Chris Liu, in a prepared statement. “We knew as we got closer to the transition deadline we would have to address employee shortages.”

Closing the 14 locations will free up approximately 60 experienced employees to fill-in the gaps at other stores, according to the state.

Editor's note: This story was corrected at 8:53 a.m. April 26. DreamX LLC is based in Kirkland.