RALEIGH — With the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission’s permission to reopen the liquor store at 203 N. Vance St., the Pembroke ABC Board is plowing ahead with plans to renovate the store, which has been closed since October 2008.

The state ABC Commission’s unanimous decision came at a regular meeting on Tuesday, after Michael Herring, chief administrator for the state ABC, recommended the approval, saying he was confident the new board could make it profitable.

“They’ve done their due diligence as far as understanding what the ABC laws are and understanding what it’s going to take to open the store,” Herring said after the meeting.

The approval means liquor will be shipped to the store as soon as it is ready.

Joshua Malcolm, chairman of the Pembroke ABC Board, and Myron Neville, a board member, were in Raleigh for the decision.

“There is no projected open date at this time,” Malcolm said Tuesday. “Today was a milestone. We were purposely waiting for the all-clear for liquor, and now we will fast and furiously work with an architect and designer as far as what design will follow.”

Since the Alcohol Beverage Control bill was enacted in 1937, North Carolina has regulated alcohol, so hard liquor may only be purchased at ABC stores. It is now one of 19 states to do so. The ABC Commission oversees the operation of 411 stores.

The state closed Pembroke’s store on Oct. 20, 2008, after an audit revealed money and inventory were missing. In a letter that year, Herring said that between 2004 and 2007, more than $30,000 worth of liquor and $19,000 cash went missing.

“That report showed there was a clear lack of control in managing public money as well as management practices in association with North Carolina ABC laws,” Herring said Tuesday.

According to state ABC records, after expenses were subtracted from revenue, the Pembroke store reported a negative 7.43 percent profit in 2007; 3.56 percent profit in 2006; 1.66 percent profit in 2005; and 3.53 percent profit in 2004. The Lumberton ABC Board showed profit in all of those years, and 6.56 percent profit in 2007, when Pembroke went into the red.

“The store can make money, it was just going through the front and out the back door,” Herring said. “It was a profitable location.”

Last year, with Pembroke’s store closed, Lumberton posted 6.21 percent profit. So far this year, it is showing 7.53 percent profit.

“Our goal is to earn the business of patrons we’ve lost,” Malcolm said, listing Lumberton, Red Springs and Maxton as locations that have been serving former Pembroke customers.

On May 18, Pembroke’s Town Council replaced the old ABC Board with Malcolm, an attorney for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke; Neville, a supervisor at the county Water Department; and John Campbell, who works for the state Department of Transportation.

A week later, the new board met with the state ABC in Raleigh and discussed what it needs to do to reopen the store.

Herring said conversations with Malcolm, the chairman, convinced him that “this board understood what it would take to properly operate the store.”

When the Vance Street store first closed, Herring said he thought a different location was necessary, but the board — “people who know the area better than I do” — convinced him the location was still viable with some remodeling.

“They determined it would be in the best interest of the town of Pembroke to open in the existing location with extensive remodeling,” Herring said. “They’re in the process now of remodeling. They can proceed with their plans to get that store in shape so it can offer a nice retail shopping environment.”

For the first time since the store opened in November 1967, the Pembroke store will be transformed from a counter model — where the merchandise is kept behind a counter — to an open sales floor plan, “much like when you visit the Lumberton ABC store,” Malcolm said. “There are only about a half-dozen counter stores left in the state.”

Malcolm said he traveled to Boone, Asheboro, Raleigh and Fayetteville “getting an idea of what type of layout will be most appealing.”

The sprucing up will also include new lighting and a new paint job inside, with a few changes outside.

Malcolm said when the time comes, the board will advertise for employees.

“Integrity is the No. 1 characteristic we’re looking for” in new employees, Malcolm said. “That is the type of person we’ve got to have as our manager. ... The manager is the key person in this process, and we’ve got to get it right with him or her.

“We’re looking for someone with integrity and we’re looking for someone with experience. People can learn how to manage a store, but they can’t learn good character.”

Meanwhile, Herring said he is confident in the new board’s ability to “find people in the community who are trustworthy to employ.”

“We feel good about the situation,” Herring said. “It’s been over a year now since the store closed, and it’s time to move forward. I think a board is in place now that can make the right decisions to move the store forward and make it a profitable business.”