Jim Forsland and Dana Rose, longtime Sharrett’s Liquors co-owners, are retiring and have sold the business to new owners, who plan to briefly close the store for renovation before reopening in early summer.
The final day of operation for the current iteration of Sharrett’s — and Forsland and Rose’s final day behind the counter — is Tuesday, April 29. Nearly every bottle in the store, located at 2389 University Ave., is on sale.
From behind the cashier’s counter Monday afternoon, Forsland confirmed his plans to step away but declined to share further details. The new owners are unaffiliated with Sharrett’s as it stands now, he said, but he did not name them. Attempts to reach the building’s owner, who Forsland said has been involved in the transition, were unsuccessful.
As far as Forsland knows, he said, the new owners plan to keep the space as a liquor store but remodel and reorganize it, and reopen in late May or June.
Forsland and Rose took over the store in 1976 from Rose’s father, Ben Rose, who himself had been running the place as a combination liquor store-pharmacy since about 1949. Previously, it had been predominantly a pharmacy and had at one point had been owned by Edward Sharretts, after whom it’s named. Under Forsland and Rose, the store also developed something of a cult reputation for giving change in $2 bills.
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