City Council Dashes Tobacco Retailer's Hope to Surrender License

St. Paul will likely have one fewer licensed tobacco retailer as a result of a City Council decision on Wednesday. The council voted 6-0 to deny Maryland One Stop Food & Fuel owner Khaled Aloul’s request to surrender his license in lieu of revocation.

The distinction is significant because surrendering the license would have allowed the new owner of the business to apply for the license. If the license is revoked the new owner won’t be able to apply for one at the same location per city ordinance. Because the City Council voted to decrease the number of tobacco licenses available in St. Paul from 150 to 100 last year, a revocation would result in a net decrease in the number of tobacco retailers in the city.

During a June 1, 2023 inspection the convenience store and gas station, located at 1200 White Bear Avenue, was found to be selling a large variety of flavored tobacco products, including Cake Rainbow Glue, Elfbar Sunrise, and White Owl Swirl Rocky Road. Flavored tobacco products are banned in St. Paul unless a tobacco retailer has a specific license for them.

In addition, the inspector also witnessed an incident in which a cashier was initially reluctant to sell to a customer the inspector believed was underage, but eventually agreed to because "I don't give a f--- since l'm fired, give me the money. I'm already fired so take it; I don't care." After the transaction, the cashier said to the inspector, “I don't give a f--- I'm already fired I know that."

Following the inspection, the Department of Safety and Inspections recommended revocation of Aloul’s tobacco license due to the large number of flavored products on display, “the blatant nature of the violations,” and the fact that Aloul had previously had a tobacco license revoked for similar violations.

Aloul’s license to sell tobacco at Midway Amoco was revoked in 2020 after an administrative law judge found that the business sold cigarettes outside of their original packaging, sold flavored products, sold tobacco to underage customers, and operated in a manner that endangered the public.

While the first matter was still pending, an inspection on March 20, 2024 found that Maryland One Stop Food & Fuel again sold to an underage customer and had flavored tobacco products for sale.

Despite the Department of Safety and Inspection's unflattering portrayal of his client, Aloul's attorney Brian Flakne argued that his client has “a significant amount of community support,” including that of multiple police officers who submitted letters of support to the administrative law judge in the case.

Because the City Council denied Aloul's request to surrender his license the matter will proceed to a hearing before an administrative law judge.