Cicione Expects to Make History

Giovanni Cicione, who received the second Class A liquor license from the Barrington Town Council last week, plans to become the first license-holder to open a “package store” here.

Cicione, a Barrington attorney, expects to open his store in the former Bruegger’s Bagels shop just down the road from his law office on County Road by the end of this month. Workers were busy Tuesday tearing up the floor as part of a rapid refurbishment of the shop.

“I can’t say it’s going to be pretty, “ said Cicione, “but I would like to open by Christmas.”

Cicione has held the license only since last Friday, Dec. 9, after going through a long selection process that included him filing an appeal to the RI Liquor Control Board when the Town Council awarded only one of two licenses it had to give out several weeks ago.

“It was deliberate and sensible,” Cicione said of the process. “I have no problem with the process that was laid out. But I don’t know why they were trying to handpick the business location.”

The age of the mom-and-pop neighborhood liquor store is gone, he said.

“You need size to buy in volume to give the best prices,” he said. “And I don’t think anyone wants to see a big store dropped down in their neighborhood.”

Cicione’s location includes about 3,300 square feet of space. It includes the former bagel shop and an adjacent space that used to be a video store. The wall between the shop and the store has been torn down. It will house the beer cooler.

The area in the bagel shop that used to house the ovens and food preparation and storage space will house wines. The rest of the space will house spirits.

“We’re going to walk a line between being a high-end wine store and a case of beer store,” said Cicione. “We’re not an exclusive wine shop. We’ll be a typical liquor store with competitive prices.”

Cicione believes his store will offer convenience off of County Road and value in competition with the other liquor stores in the area, including the store to be opened by Matthew Amaral on Bosworth Street. Amaral received the town’s first Class A license but he does not plan to open Grapes and Grains until next year.

“I think we’ll offer a nice balance,” he said of Amaral and his plan. “I’ll be a little less specialized.”

Cicione plans to hire a manager to run the store, although “I’ll certainly be a presence,” he said.

Cicione is naming his store Brickyard Wine & Spirits.

“My dad was a bricklayer,” he said.

Cicione doesn’t consider himself a history buff, but he believes the name will pay a bit of tribute to the workers like his father who toiled in the former clay pits in Barrington. They surely drank a beer or two at the end of each day, he said.

Cicione expects now to make history himself in the next couple of weeks as the first person to open a liquor store in Barrington.