Archive: Business & Technology

The Village of Lansing Planning Board heard plans Tuesday for a new distillery to be located at the Shops at Ithaca Mall. James Case said he plans to open a distillery in a former hair salon next to the former pet store location in the mall entrance near the TCAT bus stop.  He is calling it 'Brand Y Distillery' and said he eventually hopes to sell local wines and beers in addition to his own brandy, which, to start with, will be made in the mall storefront.

"That's just kind of new territory," Case said. "There are not a lot of distilleries in malls. That's why I named it Brand Y -- it's a little bit different."

Case is seeking a special permit from the Village, because making and selling alcohol in the mall classifies his business as 'High Traffic Food and Beverage', which requires a special permit in the Village's Commercial High Traffic District.  Case said that while he is waiting for his liquor license to be granted by New York State, he intends to manufacture hand sanitizer so he can get his business going right away.

"In the beginning of March, the TTB (US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) had opened up the federal license to allow small distilleries to make hand sanitizer," he explained. "So I can make hand sanitizer and sell retail out of my store front or supply local hospitals or businesses. So while I wait for the New York state liquor authority to catch up, I can make hand sanitizer."

Planning Board Chair Lisa Schleelein was surprised when Case said he would use carrots to make some of his brandy.

"When everybody hears distillery, they think of moonshiners or Jim beam," he explained. "I prefer the Eastern European style of distilling, where they take anything that's left over and squeeze every drop of alcohol out of it they can get. So that could be from grapes, cherries, apples, carrots, turnips, sugar beets. I want to make stuff that's different and locally grown."

Planning Board member Jim McCauley asked whether there would be odors from batches of liquor manufactured in his store.  Ne replied that the brandy will be made in 55 gallon stainless steel drums, and the only odors might come from the vegetables or grains he plans to use, but he doesn't anticipate any strong smells that would disturb other mall tenants and their customers.

"It'll smell like a big crock pot of apples or a big crock pot of carrots, or oatmeal, or corn, whatever I happen to be distilling," Case said. "But the smell is it's really, it's not that much. And since it was a hair salon, there's a nice air system already in there that sucks out most of that."

Case said that the customer side of the space will be similar to the one at Salt Point Brewery in the Town of Lansing, but his equipment would be smaller.  He said he anticipates outgrowing the space fairly soon, and told the Board that when that happens he will look for a nearby space that is zoned for Agriculture to move the manufacturing portion, while keeping the mall store for retail sales.

"As far as my business plan, I need to sell about a hundred bottles a week out of the retail storefront, but part of this license is that I can sell direct to restaurants, casinos, bar rooms, and liquor stores. So I expect to have as much wholesale sales away from the store as I will in the store room."

The Board asked for more specific foot traffic customer projections in writing.  Case will return for the July 13th Planning Board meeting for more consideration of the project.


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