Wasik’s Cheese Shop in Wellesley Square on Monday became the first specialty food shop in town to secure a license to sell beer/wine to be consumed off premises. The shop also plans to do some delivery of alcoholic beverages.
The Wasik family has owned the shop, which also sells breads, meats, caviar and chocolates, since 1979. Manager Brad Wasik said no major construction is planned to accommodate the new inventory and added that store hours will remain the same.
The Cheese Shop owners’ attorney, David Himmelberger, described the outfit’s effort to become the first speciality food shop to attain a license as fitting given its role in helping the town architect its new retail sales rules. His pitch: “The sale of beer and wine should be complementary to food sales and it’s hard to imagine a more complementary food product than the fine cheeses that The Cheese Shop sells.”
Selectman Don McCauley thanked the Wasiks for their patience with the “Wellesley Way” — the town’s somewhat lengthy process involved in changing… anything.
The approval comes a week after Fells Market got its license okayed by the Board of Selectmen.