COVINGTON TOWNSHIP -- Just a little more than a week after Pennsylvania law changed to allow wine sales in some grocery stores, many of those stores are making changes to their businesses.
ShopRite in Covington Township, near Daleville, is in the midst of a construction project to make way for wine, making it one of the first to adapt to a change in state liquor laws approved earlier this month.
Shoppers at Bill's ShopRite near Daleville are met with the sounds of construction. The store moved swiftly after a change in state law about a week and a half ago that allows grocery stores to sell wine.
Managers say ShopRite has plans to expand its beer sales area to make room for wine shelves for wine sales. ShopRite's one of the first stores in our area to make the change.
It's not exactly surprising to shoppers.
Other tenants in the plaza say the owner is planning to build a common entrance for the grocery store and the wine and spirits store right next door, perhaps laying the groundwork for even more changes to state liquor laws.
"I think it's great because now you can pick up your wine when you get your groceries and in New York State they've been doing that for years," said James Pizzuti.
"If you want to drink that bad, do it somewhere else, not in a grocery store. We take kids in there," said Nancy Frable of Gouldsboro.
The expansion required some shuffling; some businesses that have been in this plaza a long time had to move to move to other spaces.
That includes Haines Family Dentistry. Dr. Donald Haines showed us the new digs, less than a week old.
"I opened my practice in December of 1983, in the same location where I was moved from," said Dr. Haines.
But Dr. Haines says the change has been good. He and his staff prefer the new location and the development at ShopRite may prove to be better for all of the businesses in the plaza.
"I think it gives people more choices and I think it provides more accessibility and I do think it will be positive for business on both ends."
There is no word yet on how soon those renovations could be complete and when you'll be able to pick up a bottle of wine at ShopRite. The earliest would be sometime after the first week of August.
