By MONROE ROARK
mroark@TheCitizenNews.com

A new Fayetteville merchant has pledged to be exceptionally vigilant in seeing that her establishment complies with the city's tough stance on selling alcohol to minors.

Janice Ferguson received City Council approval Monday night for a beer and wine license for the Fitzgerald Food Store at 535 North Glynn Street.

She was not present when the vote was taken at the beginning of the meeting, but she appeared later and addressed the council about her plans.

This store will be one of 16 that her company owns in the metro Atlanta area. Most of those stores are on the north side of Atlanta, and in such place as Cobb, Paulding and Douglas counties.

Ferguson stressed that her store will be a “responsible” seller of alcoholic beverages, in total compliance with the law. She said that extensive employee training and exercises such as “mystery shopper” programs will help her store police itself and not become a statistic like the 20 Fayetteville stores that were nailed in a police operation last winter for selling alcohol to minors.

Ferguson's mystery shoppers are unannounced customers of legal drinking age, over 21 but under 30, who come in and purchase alcohol while checking to see if they are asked for identification. “We want to make sure all of our employees know the law,” said Ferguson.

If an employee at the Fitzgerald store is caught illegally selling alcohol, he or she will be immediately terminated, she added.