NYC wine icon Sherry-Lehmann shuts down after cease-and-desist order

Iconic New York City wine shop Sherry-Lehmann has abruptly shut its doors as the cash-strapped retailer faces a clampdown over failure to renew its liquor license, The Post has learned.

The 88-year-old wine store on Park Avenue — which narrowly escaped getting its lights turned off by ConEd last week — locked its doors ahead of closing time on Thursday after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the State Liquor Authority. The shop remained closed on Friday.

“As is standard procedure, following complaints of the business selling without a license, the SLA issued a cease-and-desist letter,” SLA spokesman William Crowley told The Post.

Before the letter arrived Thursday, the store was a shell of its former self, with bare shelves and an abundance of relatively cheap wine on offer, including a $15 bottle of Chateau Franc Couplet Bordeaux that was purchased by a reporter. 

Sherry-Lehmann’s liquor license expired on Feb. 28. Selling alcohol without a license is a criminal offense.

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“We would bring charges if we learned that they sold alcohol after Feb. 28,” Crowley said, adding, “It’s typically newer businesses that forget to send in their paperwork, not a business that’s been around for eight decades.”

The embattled retailer — which also has been falling behind on its payroll, vendor invoices and tax obligations — owes the SLA $4,298 for a three-year license, according to the SLA.

That’s a total that used to be chump change for the venerable retailer, which has counted celebrities like Elvis Costello and Henry Kissinger among its regular customers, sources told The Post.

“It’s mind-boggling that a store like that would not have their renewal in right now unless they don’t have the money,” said liquor license attorney Rob Bookman. “On a bad day they are bringing in at least $10,000, not to mention online. It’s odd given the scrutiny they are under that they wouldn’t have their renewal pending.”

A friendly sales associate on Thursday afternoon said the store — which had only one other customer at the time — is simply waiting for inventory shipments and is not going out of business.

But vendors were told by the SLA not to supply the retailer because its license had expired, according to sources.

The store can’t reopen until the SLA determines that it has satisfied its obligations. It was given three months’ notice about its renewal, according to Crowley.

“Once the agency receives their renewal application and payment, it will be reviewed by Licensing Bureau staff for completeness,” Crowley said in an email, adding that “provided there are no deficiencies in the application, the renewal will be issued and the licensee may resume operations.”  

Sherry-Lehmann owes New York nearly $3 million in unpaid sales tax, making it the 13th-largest deadbeat business in the state, according to the Department of Taxation and Finance.

The agency has designated co-owner Shyda Gilmer as personally liable for the massive amount, which was recently reduced by $506,000, as The Post reported.

Under the watch of Gilmer and co-owner Kris Green, the company’s finances have deteriorated, with former employees pointing the finger at the duo’s free-spending ways, taking the store’s inventory of pricey and rare wine for their personal use, for example.

Gilmer and Green, who have defended their business practices, took over the store a decade ago from the Aaron family that founded it in 1934 after the end of Prohibition.

The company has previously blamed its woes on the pandemic, but its troubles started in 2019, according to several lawsuits by former customers who together are suing the company for nearly $1 million worth of wine futures that were supposed to be delivered in 2019.

“The company is taking care of its financial obligations with vendors and suppliers as the company continues to address any past balances that arose during the pandemic,” a spokesperson for the company said this week in response to ConEd’s threat to turn off the electricity in the store.

The company did not immediately respond for comment about the liquor license.