State News

Surge in liquor sales offset by bar, restaurant closures

April sales of liquor in North Carolina may not be quite as high as the month before, as state and county leaders began putting stay-at-home orders in place to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. But that doesn't mean North Carolinians aren't still buying a lot more booze.

Posted Updated

By
Tyler Dukes
, WRAL investigative reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — April sales of liquor in North Carolina may not be quite as high as the month before, as state and county leaders began putting stay-at-home orders in place to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that doesn't mean North Carolinians aren't still buying a lot more booze.

The latest data from the N.C. ABC Commission shows total liquor sales statewide are up about 7 percent, hitting a total of about $106.8 million. That's a far cry from figures in March, which showed sales increasing about 21 percent.

The difference comes largely from a massive drop in business between local ABC boards and bars, which typically account for around 20 percent of total liquor sales.

With restaurants shuttered by statewide order for the entire month of April, so called "mixed beverage" sales dropped to almost zero.

For many county and local ABC boards, that was enough to all but wipe out a continued increase in retail sales by shoppers visiting state-run package stores. Year-over-year, April saw a 36 percent increase in these retail sales as shoppers spent $28.1 million more on liquor by the bottle.

That's only a slightly smaller boost than March, which saw about a 38 percent increase compared to the year before.

Ike Wheeler, general manager of Wake County ABC, said that initial surge was partly due to panic buying amid uncertainty over whether stores would remain closed during the lockdown.

"At first in March, people were coming in buying half-gallons by cases," Wheeler said. "That eased off, but you still got a lot of people at home, not working, no place to go. So I think that contributed to the retail sales still being higher than normal."

Not every local alcohol board is seeing the same impact in sales.

Although state data shows sales in Wake County are still up overall about 3 percent, Mecklenburg County liquor sales are down by about 28 percent compared to last year. That puts the Charlotte region in an unusual position relative to their Raleigh-area counterparts.

"The month before last, in March, we were dead on them. But in April, Wake County exceeded Mecklenburg County in sales over $2 million dollars," Wheeler said. "First time we've exceeded Mecklenburg County in sales that we can remember."

Pointing to 2019 sales data, Mecklenburg County ABC spokesperson Julia Paul said a larger percentage of that board's total revenue comes from business with bars and restaurants – 35 percent compared to Wake County's 25 percent.

And with fewer passengers flowing through Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Wheeler said the county lost a big contributor to mixed beverage sales.

Mecklenburg County's not alone, though.

Across the 170 local ABC boards, state data shows 25 of them saw a decrease in total sales in April compared to the previous year.

At the top of the list – coastal Dare County, with a 48-percent decline in sales. The area that includes the Outer Banks reported sales of about $1.4 million last April. But this year, as local officials there blocked visitors' access to keep COVID-19 in check, the county made about $700,000, all in retail sales.

The sales trends could change drastically during Phase Two of Gov. Roy Cooper's reopening plan, when a new executive order could allow restaurants to open at limited capacity.

In anticipation of that possibility – and ahead of the Memorial Day weekend – Wheeler said Wake County ABC stores are returning to their normal schedules on Friday, closing at 9 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

Wheeler said although he's expecting business between local boards and bars to bounce back somewhat once the state starts loosening restrictions, things aren't likely to be the same.

"I don't know whether they'll go back up to normal – I don't think they will," he said. "Because some bars have already indicated that they may not open back up."

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