MASON CITY – A North End liquor store with a history of compliance problems could soon lose its ability to sell alcohol after state regulators moved to revoke its license.
Mason City Police Chief Mike McKelvey is recommending that the City Council deny the liquor license renewal for Prime Wine & Spirits, 1104 North Federal Avenue, effective September 1, 2026.
In an August 10 memorandum to City Administrator Aaron Burnett, McKelvey said the recommendation is based on multiple prior liquor-law violations.
The Iowa Department of Revenue is also seeking to revoke the store’s liquor license. According to the memo, the state properly served notice in July and gave the business until August 17 to file an appeal.
If Prime Wine & Spirits does not appeal by that deadline, the state revocation will begin September 1. The City Council is expected to consider a proposed resolution denying the local renewal at its August 18 meeting.
The latest action comes after repeated problems involving sales to underage customers.
During a June 10, 2025, alcohol compliance operation, a Prime Wine & Spirits employee was cited for selling alcohol to a minor. The employee faced a scheduled fine of $645 plus court costs, and the violation was forwarded to state regulators for possible administrative action against the store’s license.
Prime was one of three Mason City businesses caught selling alcohol to an underage buyer during that compliance check.
That was not the first time an alcohol seller on Mason City’s North End had surfaced in an underage-sales investigation. In December 2024, NIT reported that a Mason City booze salesman was caught peddling alcohol to an underage customer.
The store has also encountered trouble involving tobacco sales. Prime Wine & Spirits was among five retailers found out of compliance during a June 2023 operation after an employee sold tobacco to an underage person. The first-offense penalty was $135.
That enforcement action came after Mason City police conducted checks at 37 businesses and found that Prime and four other retailers were not complying with Iowa tobacco laws.
Not every headline involving the store has been negative. In October 2023, Prime Wine & Spirits sold a scratch ticket that delivered a $30,000 Iowa Lottery prize to a Charles City woman.
The proposed license denial carries no stated budget impact for the city.
As of the August 10 police memorandum, the store still had the right to appeal the state action. The recommendation before the council is not final until council members vote, and a timely appeal could affect the state revocation process.
(TOP IMAGE via Google.)