New Liquor Store To Open In Somersworth

SOMERSWORTH, NH — The new liquor store in Somersworth is opening Tuesday in the former location of a trolley car repair shop. Located on High Street, the 20,000-square-foot store is expected to draw customers from the Tri-City area and parts of Maine. It is the first energy-neutral location in the history of New Hampshire Liquor Commission, according to a statement by the commission.

The new liquor store will be a consolidation of the Chestnut Street liquor store in Dover and the Main Street liquor store in Somersworth. It will feature more than 4,200 sizes and varieties of wines and spirits.

"We are pleased to be opening this energy-neutral Tri-City NH Liquor & Wine Outlet, which has been an especially unique project as the site is deeply connected to the rich, trolley car history of Somersworth, Dover and the surrounding towns," said Liquor Commission Chairman Joseph Mollica. "The building itself is a physical representation of that history."

The new liquor store is in the former building of the Dover-Rochester-Somersworth Street Railway Trolley Car Repair Shop, which served several streetcar companies in the late 1890s and early 1900s, according to the Liquor Commission. Located on the shore of Willand Pond, the building in Burgett Park served as a destination for streetcar passengers. The 69-acre park housed a casino and a popular dance hall. Burgett Park also had an outdoor theater, a carousel, a penny arcade and a zoo.

Most recently, the building housed Riverside Garage, which operated the building from 1975 until the Liquor Commission took over the space in December 2017. Restoration of the building took more than a year and a half. During that time, the commission made efforts to preserve the structure of the original building while incorporating the original details of the trolley car repair shop, such as trusses and clerestory windows.

The restored building also has modern elements, such as solar arrays and energy-efficient materials. It has temperature- and humidity-controlled wine vaults, an expanded Price Busters and Wine Power Buys displays, and iPad kiosks that provide food and wine pairing information to shoppers using the store's current inventory.

In addition to the new store in Somersworth, the Liquor Commission opened 31 new or freshly renovated liquor stores in New Hampshire since 2012, including in Portsmouth, Bedford, Epping, Concord, Londonderry, Rochester, Salem, Seabrook, North Hampton, Merrimack and Manchester.

Last month, the commission also announced plans to construct a new 12,000-square-foot liquor store in Tilton. A newly constructed liquor store at the Portsmouth traffic circle opened this spring and has already seen a 20-percent increase in sales, the Liquor Commission stated.