A west Lawrence liquor store was shut down Tuesday by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control division while it conducts an investigation of the business.

Kerry G. Zimmerman, owner of Parkway Liquor, 3514 Clinton Parkway, voluntarily surrendered the store’s liquor license to ABC officials late Tuesday.

Lisa Kaspar, a Kansas Department of Revenue spokeswoman, said beverage control officials locked the doors of the business and seized the store’s inventory as part of an ongoing investigation.

Kaspar declined to discuss details of the investigation.

Zimmerman, a Topeka resident, bought the store, which is in the shopping center adjacent to the Hy-Vee Food & Drug Store, about a year ago from Dan Blomgren. Blomgren and his wife, Jill, own Lawrence’s two Cork & Barrel liquor stores.

Sources familiar with the investigation said state officials were looking into details of the sale transaction between Zimmerman and Blomgren.

State law allows an individual to hold only one retail liquor license. It is a violation of the law for an individual to obtain a liquor license on behalf of someone else, Kaspar said.

She declined to say if ABC officials were investigating whether Zimmerman had obtained the license on Blomgren’s behalf.

Parkway Liquors, 3514 Clinton Parkway, has posted a closed sign on its front door. The state is said to be investigating details of the store's sale from one owner to another.

Zimmerman also declined to discuss the investigation.

“All I can say is that I got into a business opportunity that didn’t work out,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said Blomgren still was involved in Parkway Liquor’s operations after the sale. Zimmerman said he did not know whether the involvement violated laws. He declined to be more specific.

Blomgren denied any wrongdoing.

“When I sold it to Kerry, I relinquished all ties,” Blomgren said. “The sale was 100 percent legal.”

In the most recent Southwestern Bell Lawrence area telephone directory, Parkway Liquor’s White Pages listing directs people to “See Cork & Barrel Wine and Spirits.”

Blomgren said the listing wasn’t an indication of his involvement in operating Parkway Liquor, simply a mistake in the directory. Blomgren also said he had not been contacted “in any way, shape or form” by ABC investigators in regard to the case.

Zimmerman said he didn’t have any plans to reopen the store, regardless of the outcome of the investigation.

“No way,” Zimmerman said. “I’m not a business person.”