GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Michigan (WXYZ) – Wholesale Woods wine at Grosse Pointe Woods is closed for business after sending beer to a state address.
Second-generation owner William Matouk said an employee complied with the order in error. They believe this was part of a first-hand operation by the Liquor Control Commission.
Matouk called the punishment unfair and flagrant.
“We just don’t know why we fall so hard for a minor offense,” Matouk said. “We made a mistake when one of the employees sent it. We would never jeopardize our operations of three bottles of beer.”
He said the punishment forced them to close seven days or appeal and if they lost the appeal, they would end up with a liquor license. They decided to close on Monday.
It is against the law in Michigan to send beer to a state residence. The store has a retail location and online operation that is shipped to homes around the world.
“There’s a license that covers beer and wine because of the pressure and other things that happened in the past, you can send wine,” Matouk’s attorney Brian O’Keefe said. “But you can’t send beer. That’s a trap.”
In 2015, Woods Wholesale Wine was shut down for illegal shipping of alcohol.
7 Action News reached out to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and declined to comment.