Woes continue for Slocumb Street grocer
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on January 15, 2017 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Owner of Brookside Mart, Ismail Qandeel, left, discusses the need for his store to remain open. Qandeel wants the city to give him another chance despite the fact that his store needs numerous repairs. Michelle Miller, a frequent customer, was there to shop and to support Qandeel in his pleas to the city.
The owner of Brookside Mart, who is seeking to move the convenience store to a larger site on South Slocumb Street, was convicted in May for selling alcohol without an ABC permit.
Owner Ismail Qandeel was charged in 2015 around the time that a state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission permit compliance officer found Qandeel selling alcohol under an ABC permit in his deceased brother's name, said Joe Sadler, law enforcement chief for the Wayne County ABC Board.
"He had been selling alcohol for years under his brother's name," Sadler said. "ABC permits are not transferable from one person to another. Mr. Qandeel continued to sell alcohol under his brother's permit."
Qandeel's brother, Ribhi Kandeel, was shot during a 2008 robbery at the convenience store and died. The original ABC permit was issued in 2006 to Kandeel.
The state ABC Commission canceled the permit in July 2015, after a state ABC representative visited the store at 2000 S. Slocumb St.
Several days after the permit was canceled, Sadler received a complaint from the Goldsboro Police Department that alcohol sales were still taking place.
"I paid him a visit and seized all of his alcohol," said Sadler, who continues to monitor the store and has a file, with photos of the seized alcohol.
Sadler charged Qandeel with possessing and selling alcohol without a permit and hauled away 160 liters of beer and wine he found inside the store.
"I can't tell you how many cases that is, but it's a lot," Sadler said.
Qandeel pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge, and a court judgment was issued May 11, 2016, with Qandeel paying a $100 fine and about $185 in court costs, according to Wayne County District Court records.
Qandeel is not eligible to apply for an ABC permit for two years from the date of the 2016 conviction, Sadler said.
During the time of the initial investigation, Sadler received a year's worth of police complaint reports -- 41 pages -- for Brookside Mart. From July 2014 to July 2015, Goldsboro police officers responded to 255 calls for service at the store, Sadler said.
Brookside Mart has continued to be a site of repeated police complaints for years, involving reports of illegal alcohol and drug sales, shootings and thefts, said Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West. The police department started pursuing nuisance abatement enforcement last year, which could have led to a forced shutdown, but halted the process after the building was condemned by city inspectors in May.
Though the building is considered structurally unsound, it remains open. City inspectors have been working with the owner to help him find another location in the low-income area of the city that some call a "food desert" -- a geographic area where residents have limited or no access to affordable, healthy food options.
"Yes, the building itself has some issues, but, I think, the community needs a store over there," said Allen Anderson Jr., Goldsboro chief building inspector.
"The whole idea was to work with him because there's no store in the area."
The Goldsboro City Council is considering Qandeel's more recent application for a conditional-use permit that would allow him to move Brookside Mart into the former Bob's Supermarket, at 1717 S. Slocumb St.
Qandeel's request, first heard by the council during a mid-December public hearing, could be decided Tuesday.
"I think there's the belief that some of the citizens in that area are in a food desert," said Mayor Chuck Allen. "He's not done a good job. That place has become an eyesore and is really a detriment to the community.
"My hope is by giving him a second chance that he does a better job in the community."
Allen said residents need to have access to a quality grocery store. As a city official, the mayor believes he's partly responsible to help.
"The bigger goal is to see what we can to do bring a viable food source to that community," Allen said. "It's market driven, but I feel like it's my responsibility with the city to facilitate that the best way we can."
"We're not doing it for him, as much as we're doing it for the community.
Brookside Mart is located near two low-income neighborhoods -- The Grand, a Section 8 community, and a public housing complex operated by the Eastern Carolina Regional Housing Authority.
Even during the coldest days, residents will walk blocks to buy a few groceries or other items at the store.
"Yeah, we need this store," said Michelle Miller, a regular at Brookside Mart. "It needs to be here. This is the only store we have in the neighborhood. Some of us don't have a car."
Marcelles White, who has three children, also visits the store, sometimes more than once a day.
"Without this store, we have to walk way down the street," White said. "We won't have no store to go to. This is the only store in the area."
Buses operated by the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority operate in the area, and extended evening hours are planned starting in February, as part of a three month trial period.
Allen said he plans to recommend that the council approve Qandeel's permit request Tuesday.
"We, kind of, have to see what happens with the rest of the council," Allen said.
If the conditional-use permit is issued, it may include restrictions, including limited hours of operation, ongoing building maintenance, no litter and no loitering, Allen said.
If the store continues to be a trouble spot, the city permit can be revoked and the store shut down.
"We're giving him a chance to be a positive part of the community, and, hopefully, he'll live up to that expectation," Allen said. "If he doesn't, he won't be there for long."
Qandeel said the business is his livelihood, and he's trying to operate a store that offers needed food and over-the-counter medicine. He's also entered into a five-year lease for the larger grocery store, he said.
"If we shut this store, a lot of people get so mad and so sick," Qandeel said. "If they can't get Tylenol, who is going to take care of them? A lot of people don't know why the city wants to shut it down. It's going to put me out of business."
If Brookside Mart moves, the older, partly dilapidated building will be demolished by Qandeel, Allen said.
City officials recently visited the former Bob's Supermarket after learning that it was open before the city permit was issued.
Inspectors visited Brookside Mart and told the owner the electricity would be shut off. After Qandeel said he had refrigerated items in the store, inspectors decided to leave the electricity on, Anderson said.
The city council is set to vote on the conditional-use permit during its Tuesday night meeting, at 7 p.m., in City Hall. The council's public comment period, for anyone interested in addressing council, will be held near the start of the meeting and before the permit request is considered.