At 2:10 p.m., customers swarmed the Five Star Marathon cashier with cases of packaged beer in tow.

It was the first transactions for packaged beer in the history of Murray.

City Alcohol Beverage Control Administrator Kendra Clere delivered the city license just moments before sales occurred, having put the location in compliance with state and city laws requiring establishments to obtain proper licensing before selling alcoholic beverages to the public.

On Friday afternoon, after having been stocked by Miller and Budweiser Distributing Co., Five Star Marathon began erroneously selling alcohol to customers before obtaining their city licensing.

Clere said the entire situation was just a mix-up and has already been handled within city jurisdiction.

“There was just a misunderstanding,” Clere said. “Five Star thought that because they already had their state license they could start selling, but they didn’t have their city license. Without having their city license and having it posted like it was supposed to be, they technically couldn’t sell because they were in violation with city policies.”

Under newly drafted city laws, employees of Five Star Marathon will have up to 30 days to receive the training required to sell alcohol to the public.

Since the convenient store is a newly approved establishment, however, Clere said the store is able to sell to the public, and local authorities have been alerted of the high volume of traffic possible at the location.

“I have alerted them just for the overflow right now,” she said. “This is brand new, and I have alerted them to come in and just do walkthroughs just because of the amount of traffic they are going to have in the next 30 to 40 minutes.”

While Five Star Marathon was the first place to begin selling alcohol in the city, Max Fuel Express/BP on Hwy. 641 received their city licensing first, but Clere said they have not been stocked and are not ready to begin their sales.

Written by Edward Marlowe, Staff writer.