'We'll be hurting big time'

Photo special to The Oakland Press/ASHLEY WOODS
Tom Balaki hands change to Tricha Presti of Bloomfield Township inside the Somerset liquor store Thursday afternoon. Balaki, who owns the store, said shutting down liquor and lottery sales will hurt local business owners.


‘We’ll be hurting big time’
State shutdown to hurt party stores
By ASHLEY WOODS Special to The Oakland Press


Oakland County party store owners will be hit hard as the state government prepares for a possible partial shutdown of government services on Monday.
Lottery ticket sales and distribution of packaged liquor will be prohibited during the shutdown. Casino gambling; state park and welcome center operations; and Secretary of State offices would also close.
“We don’t sell liquor, but we sell lottery tickets. We make around $400 or $500 per week. That’s a few grand coming in every month. It’s a lot of money,” commented Tom Jabiru, owner of the Double Barrel Party Store in Waterford Township.
Jabiru has owned the Double Barrel Party Store for eight months. He said he believes the last year represents the toughest economy for small business owners since he opened his first store about 20 years ago.
“What can you say?” he asked. “There are no jobs. No one has any money.”
As a lottery salesman, Jabiru makes a 6 percent profit on all lottery tickets sold, as well as a 2 percent return on all store redemptions under $600.
Andi Brancato, spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery, said the lottery will record $740 million dollars in profit for the 2007 fiscal year.
“All the money, 100 percent, goes to the School Aid Fund,” she said. “Obviously, we hope people will continue to play the lottery once the budget is finalized.”
If a partial shutdown begins Monday, “the distribution system for spirits will be completely shut down,” said Ken Wozniak, director of executive services for the Liquor Control Commission. He added that party stores, as well as bars, restaurants and other establishments that sell liquor will all go dry after they sell their allotted stock.
“We won’t be able to fulfill our role as wholesaler,” Wozniak explained. Michigan, along with 17 other states, directly regulates the sale of liquor by purchasing spirits directly from distillers. The commission then resells to individual establishments at a 65 percent markup. In 2006, the liquor control commission recorded a gross profit of $170 million for the sale of spirits.
“We hope it won’t be longterm,”Wozniak said. “There are a lot of layoffs, people that could be severely affected. … That’s the human issue.”
“It will be affected,” said Tom Balaki, of his party store, Somerset Liquor. “With all the stress from the lack of government, maybe people will start drinking more.”
He has owned Somerset Liquor, on the corner of Crooks and Big Beaver in Troy, for 21 years. He said tourists from the hotels in the surrounding area frequent his party store, as well as white-collar workers from the offices nearby.
“People used to come in, spend $30. … They spend half that, now. We’ll be hurting big time,” he said. “We don’t make a lot of money.”
He also questioned the wisdom of shutting down liquor and lottery sales when the state is already struggling to offset the $1.75 billion deficit expected when the new fiscal year begins Monday.
“They’re down in the basement now,” he said. “In terms of a budget, they’ll be in the bottom of the ocean soon.”