Drink sales approved beneath teen card gaming centre

10:50am Wednesday 3rd June 2009

By Jack Blanchard

A NEW convenience store in Worcester city centre – which doubles as a national centre for fantasy card game tournaments – has been granted a licence to sell takeaway alcohol.

Lifestyle Express opened in Broad Street last month, selling a variety of groceries, newspapers and other everyday fare.

But plans to also offer off-licence alcohol were strongly opposed by several neighbouring stores, which feared a new licensed premises could increase anti-social behaviour and encourage under-age drinking.

Lifestyle Express is a slightly unusual convenience store because, upstairs, the shop sells a huge range of trading cards and other products related to fantasy card games such as Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft TCG, which attract a large cult following around the world.

Store owner Tu Nguyen has been selling such products through his mail order company for many years.

He leased the premises to create a dedicated space where people could play the games, and expects to attract people from all around the country and beyond for major card game tournaments.

Speaking at a meeting of Worcester City Council’s licensing sub-committee yesterday, Mr Nguyen said: “There’s always an issue trying to find a venue – there are no real dedicated spaces for these games, with proper facilities and lighting and that sort of thing.

“But there’s not enough money in the game-playing community to have a place on a high street.

The sub-committee was told the gaming centre did not require a licence in itself, as the card games are not classed as gambling.

But a licence was required to sell alcohol in the shop downstairs, to which several nearby businesses objected.

Tim Evans of film memorabilia store Videodrome – which already hosts similar card-playing tournaments – said: “The first problem we have is the promotion of alcohol in the vicinity of these card players, who I would say have an average age of about 15.

“And we already have problems with people drinking alcohol on the benches outside during the day.”

But the police did not object to the plan, and Mr Nguyen said there was “absolutely no chance” of alcohol being served to people playing games upstairs.

“We just want to be able to compete with other convenience stores,” he said.

The sub-committee eventually granted Lifestyle Express a licence to sell alcohol between 7am and 9pm, cutting short its hours to take into account the existing number of late night premises in the city.