ABC board chair spot checks store inventory

    Andrews – Hoping to shut down suspicions of illegal activity at the ABC store, Bennie Jo McKinnon, chair of the town’s ABC board, conducted an inventory spot check last week.
    McKinnon invited fellow board member Holly Christy and the Cherokee Scout to conduct a surprise spot check of the store’s inventory on Dec. 16. McKinnon asked the Scout to choose six different types of liquor, which were counted and documented.
    The store’s personnel then compared the physical inventory count to amounts listed in the computer system. All of the numbers matched, meaning no bottles were missing out of the six items chosen by the Scout.
    “I would happily stand any kind of spot check at any time,” store manager Jim Ringenberg said. “I guarantee you nothing nefarious is going on here. That happened nine years ago or beyond downtown.”
    Suspicions of illegal activity came to light in July, after the Scout obtained documents alleging that an alcohol sales representative had written off undamaged and unsold bottles as broken, which store employees then gave away for free.
    “If there’s any kind of problem, it’s between LB&B Associates and us getting the right amount coming in,” store finance officer Jack Frahmann said last week, adding that he recently had to manually enter about $4,500 worth of delivered product that didn’t transfer from the warehouse to the store’s system. “The only thing I’m concerned about is there’s a couple somewhere that didn’t make it on because the numbers are off just a little bit.
    “That’s why I want [Jim] to do an actual physical inventory. But it’s not because something is going out the door that’s not legit. The problem is [at the warehouse], not here. This is a smooth-running ship.”
    Ringenberg said he plans to conduct a complete physical inventory in January.
    “When you do an inventory, it’s not going to be perfect. If it is, there’s something wrong,” Ringenberg said after the spot check.