Joliet ready to OK paint-and-sip liquor license

A little wine or beer at the ceramics shop has become so commonplace that it’s expected, said Ericka Williams.

“We’re losing a lot of customers who want to do sip-and-paint,” said Williams, co-owner of Ceramic Creations in Joliet.

That could change sometime in April if the City Council approves a new Class N liquor license designed for art studios where some wine and beer apparently enhances the creative experience.

The council votes Tuesday.

Council members appeared all for it when they discussed the Class N license at a Monday workshop meeting.

“I think Joliet should encourage this as economic development,” Councilman Larry Hug said, calling sip-and-paint “a growing trend.”

But it’s not so new, said Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra.

“Sip-and-paints have been popular in Georgia and other places for more than 20 years,” Ibarra said.

The council will vote whether to create the Class N license and whether to issue the first one to Ceramic Creations, which is located at 3039 Theodore St.

While everyone at the council meeting, including Williams, called it sip-and-paint, people in the business seem to prefer calling it paint-and-sip.

Alcohol is not supposed to be the primary business for those who get the Class N liquor license, said Deputy Liquor Commissioner Jim O’Connell.

“You’re trying to make it where alcohol is not the source of income,” O’Connell said. “You’re having a glass of alcohol while you’re painting.”

Williams has estimated that wine and beer sales would account for about 10% of the income at Ceramic Creations.

The license requires that no more than 10% of the business’s income be from alcohol sales.

The license is for art studios, do-it-yourself craft stores and salons.

Other restrictions include:

• No customer can be served more than two drinks in a 24-hour period

• No outside signs advertising the availability of alcohol

• No video gaming on the premises

The annual fee for the license is $550

Williams and business partner Natasha Dillard opened the store nearly two years ago.

“Before we opened the business, we visited other ceramic shops, and they all do sip and paint,” Williams said.

Those shops were in suburbs closer to Chicago, however. Paint-and-sip still is new in Will County, she said.

Creative Ceramics, like other shops of its kind, basically offer customers a variety of figurines that they can paint and take home at a price.

“People are still hearing about us, and we’re trying to drum up business,” Williams said.