Another Darien Gas Station To Sell Beer, Wine

DARIEN, IL – A Darien gas station received permission Monday to sell beer and wine.

At a meeting, the City Council approved an alcohol license for the Shell gas station at Cass Avenue and North Frontage Road.

Aldermen also approved the zoning for the station's operator, True North Energy, to remove the drive-through car wash and make way for an "architecturally enhanced mini-mart."

Four other Darien gas stations hold beer and wine licenses – the Circle K at North Frontage and Lemont roads and the Speedways at 83rd Street and Lemont Road, 75th Street and Cass Avenue, and 103rd Street and Lemont.

At the council meeting, Mayor Joseph Marchese said he was opposed at first to allowing a beer and wine license at the Shell station.

But he said he changed his mind after a company executive met with him.

"I was convinced that they had taken security measures, training and personnel on site into consideration when making this decision to have wine and beer sales," Marchese said.

Ryan Howard, True North's chief operating officer, told the council that his firm's experience was that beer and wine sales increase in-store sales by 20 percent. That hike includes both alcohol and incidental sales, he said.

As for the building improvements, Howard said the structure is aged and past its useful life. He said the company would have kept a car wash at the station if the property were larger.