The former Oakville Dairy Queen could get a new life as a liquor store.

Dharmesh Sharma, the owner of A1 Wine & Spirit, is seeking a conditional use permit to move his store’s current storefront at 4334 Telegraph Road to the space formerly occupied by the Dairy Queen at 4312 Telegraph Road. Both addresses are in the same shopping center.

The Dairy Queen, which had operated for over 50 years, closed at the end of 2023.

The St. Louis County Planning Commission heard Sharma’s petition at its June 10 public hearing. According to Sharma, the space his store is currently in is too small for the business he handles.

“The existing location, we have limited space. … It has a narrow aisle. We have limited stock and everything, and it’s very hard to walk with the cart as well,” Sharma said. “We have limited walk-in coolers, so we can’t offer more varieties of different products. We have to use freestanding coolers … lots of electricity use and everything.”

Sharma’s petition is for a conditional use permit to operate a package liquor store in a C-2 commercial district. According to Planning Director Melissa Wilson, part of the notice for the CUP includes an ATM and veterinary clinic as well because there can only be one CUP issued to a site. If the permit for Sharma were issued, it would have to cover the previously approved uses for the already existing veterinary office and ATM in the shopping center.

“We have tiny space, so we have to store everything very, very tight,” Sharma said. “Our mission … (is to) have a bigger space. If we were to move down there, we can look better, give a really good experience to customers and make it much better.”

According to Sharma, there are nine A1-branded locations across the St. Louis area.

Jack Swanson, owner of the shopping center, spoke in favor of Sharma’s petition at the June planning meeting.

“We have an excellent tenant that would like the additional space, as he explained … We have him in one of our other shopping centers as well. He’s a good tenant. He runs a good, clean business,” Swanson said. “I would like to have this happen … He bought the store that had a small liquor store in it … and he’s doing too much business for the space, and he wants to do more.”

No other members of the public spoke for or against Sharma’s petition. When doing a hand count of Planning Commission meeting audience members who were in favor or opposed or had concerns with the petition, 13 said they were in favor, while none were opposed.

Sharma previously proposed an entirely new liquor store to the commission in 2023, but that plan did not come to fruition. At that time, he sought to construct a 1-story store at 4390 Telegraph Road, at the intersection of Pottle Road, on the property of the former Phillips 66 gas station.

The commission was set to give a recommendation on his most recent proposal Monday at its executive session.

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