MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis City Council ruled on July 21 that The Station, a high-end liquor store in East Memphis, can remain open, rejecting the latest attempt by a coalition of nearby retailers to shut it down.

The Station opened February 17, 2026, at 870 South White Station Road, in the former Bed Bath and Beyond space. The store is operated under Grind Management LLC, with Ethan and Traci Edwards listed as interest holders in state licensing filings. A coalition of three nearby liquor stores, led by Buster's Liquors and Wines co-owner Josh Hammond, has contested the store's local approval through administrative challenges, an appeal to the City Council, and litigation.

Robert Spence, the attorney representing the coalition, indicated after the Council's decision that his clients may need to reassess a pending Chancery Court lawsuit filed by Hammond that seeks to reverse The Station's approval. That case has not been resolved, and the Council's decision does not dispose of it. A court, not the Council, will determine the outcome of the lawsuit.

The dispute has run through multiple forums. The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission considered the store's retail package-store license application earlier this year, with staff recommending conditional approval subject to investigative review, inspection, and payment of the license fee. The owner has said the business was planned in compliance with city ordinances. The competing retailers have argued the local approval was improper.

Why It Matters for Memphis

Land use and licensing decisions determine what opens on a given corner, and they are among the most direct ways city government shapes a neighborhood. They are also where the public interest and private competitive interest can be difficult to separate. A challenge brought by nearby competitors raises a fair question about whose interest an appeal serves, and an approval granted over neighborhood objection raises the mirror question. Either way, residents are entitled to see the standard the Council applied and to know it was applied consistently, because the same standard governs the next application on the next corner.

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