East Boston market wins permission to sell hard liquors from Central, South America

The Boston Licensing Board today gave La Union Market, 105 Chelsea St. in East Boston, to expand its alcohol selection from beers and wine to harder drinks, such as aguardiente from Colombia and flor de fuego from El Salvador.

At a hearing yesterday, James Costello, attorney for La Union owners Hector and Beatrice Reyes, said the expanded selection will let them better serve a neighborhood that is "densely populated with many Latino families" - but not liquor stores catering to them. He said Hector is from El Salvador and Beatrice from Colombia.

Their store has sold beer and wine since 2019 with no problems, he said.

Eduard Leon, who lives on Bennington Street, said at the hearing that La Union, which also sells meat and fresh vegetables, has been a boon for a neighborhood full of people without cars.

Costello said the store would not displace any of its existing food and convenience items to make way for the new alcohol offierings.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce noted the "enormous amount of support for this application" - more than 100 letters backing the request.