NC businesses lose out on alcohol sales after not receiving state renewal notice
One Charlotte business owner said he lost weeks of alcohol sales this June after a required reminder to renew his deli’s permit never arrived, an issue a local attorney says has affected others across North Carolina.
This year, a new state law required the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to notify businesses that hadn’t paid their annual beer, wine and liquor permit fees by April 30 of a 30-day grace period and late penalty. But Rob Rondelez, the owner of Rhino Market & Deli, says he never received that notice or any mailed notices leading up to the deadline and the restaurant’s permit was canceled.
Rondelez said the location on North Davidson Street had to stop selling alcohol and reapply for a new alcohol permit from scratch, a process that took weeks. He said the business lost 30% of its revenue for three weeks due to the misstep while he worked to obtain a new permit.
“I’m an upstanding business owner. I’m not trying to skirt or bypass paying for the permit fees,” Rondelez told The Charlotte Observer. “To have a business owner have to go through all these hoops … when it’s not your fault, it’s just sickening to me.”
Jennifer Morgan, a Raleigh-based attorney who represents alcohol permit holders, said she heard from several business owners this June who said they never received a written notice and that their permits were canceled.
“My understanding is the NC ABC Commission didn’t send individualized notices to permittees within the five day grace period,” she said. “The commission posted a spreadsheet of permittees who had not renewed on its website, but I don’t know that that met the particularized notice required under the grace statute.”
The law does not specify how businesses must be notified of the grace period.
In one legal case last month, Morgan said, the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings determined that the commission did not send a notice to a Winston-Salem-based bar that met the legal threshold.
According to court documents obtained by the Charlotte Observer, the office found the commission failed to provide the bar with sufficient notice within five days of a April 30 deadline as required by the new statute before canceling the business’s ABC permits. The case was ultimately resolved outside of court.
Jeff Strickland, public affairs director for the commission, said the agency sent multiple renewal mailings ahead of the deadline, though he said some businesses that had not paid to renew their permits on time told the commission they did not receive any mail. After the permit cancellations on June 2, he said the commission posted information on its website and social media and spoke to stakeholders.
“These steps were taken to reach permittees who were not receiving their mail or who may have changed their mailing address,” Strickland wrote in an email to The Observer.
When ABC permits are canceled in North Carolina, businesses are required to complete their applications from scratch, Morgan said. This includes getting signed forms from building, fire and zoning inspectors and having the application reviewed by local police. The process can take several weeks, she said, during which the business is unable to sell alcohol.
For Rondelez, the experience has been stressful and frustrating. He said that next year, regardless of a mailed notice or not, he’ll be sure to pay the renewal fee on time.
“Now I have a little sign on my computer at my home office that says, make sure we check for ABC permit form in the mail, and if we didn’t, then we could still go online and make a payment and be done with it.” he said. “Be on the lookout, because if the form doesn’t come, you’re on your own.”
This story was originally published July 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
