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Kozmo Rejects Liquor

By Tova A. Serkin, Crimson Staff Writer

They will deliver food, videos and even magazines, but don't expect kozmo.com to be bringing you a six-pack anytime soon.

According to a spokesperson for the online service, which delivers various entertainment and convenience goods to your room in (it promises) under an hour, kozmo.com will not be delivering alcohol.

"We have decided to withdraw our application for a liquor license at our Harvard location," he said. "We heard the concerns of the community."

The withdrawal comes after pressure from Boston-area colleges as well as the Boston Police Department.

These groups said they were worried about the easy access to alcohol the service could provide to under-aged college students, who make up the bulk of kozmo.com's clientele.

Harvard has more control over the situation than other colleges that have applied pressure in recent weeks. The University owns the land in Allston, where the kozmo.com warehouse is located.

"When we lease to people they are required to describe their kind of business in their lease," Director of University and Commercial Real Estate Scott Levitan said. "We did not interpret that to include having one of their products be alcohol."

Kozmo.com's decision to pursue a liquor license concerned Harvard officials.

"We saw this as a dramatic change in the terms of the lease and we indicated to them that we would prefer that they would not pursue this," said Kevin McCluskey, Harvard director of community relations.

"We're happy to see that they have done that," he added.

The New York based company does not currently offer alcohol in any of the eight cities in which it operates. A kozmo.com spokesperson said the company is pursuing liquor licenses on a city by city basis.

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