Many Mississippians have turned to wine and liquor to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, so it appears.
That’s reflected in the increased number of cases of spirits the Mississippi Department of Revenue shipped from the Alcoholic Beverage Control warehouse in Gluckstadt this year. Mississippi is a control state, which means the state handles wholesale distribution of wine and liquor.
“In 2019, we shipped 3.4 million cases, and, as of several weeks ago, we have shipped over 4 million cases to Mississippi liquor stores, bars and restaurants and casinos,” said Jacob Manley, communications specialist at the Department of Revenue.
Early in the pandemic, many Mississippians – Northsiders among them – rushed to liquor stores and made large purchases, fearing the governor might issue an order to shut the stores down. Then, supply chain issues hit liquor merchants just as it did other retailers, with those selling items such as toilet paper and bleach gaining the public’s attention.
So how likely is it that local liquor stores will have what one would like to serve and give as presents on Christmas and offer as celebratory drinks on New Year’s Eve?
Customers may find more items will be out of stock this year than last year during the holidays due to coronavirus and supply chain weaknesses, but there’s still plenty to purchase, said Scott Jackson, owner of Colony Wine Market and Colony Bistro in Madison and president of the Mississippi Independent Package Stores Association.
“It may be a deal where you go in on a Monday looking for something and it’s out of stock and that store may get it in two days later,” he said. “It’s an inconvenience right now.”
Before the onset of coronavirus, a liquor store could place an order with the ABC warehouse and it could ship as soon as the next day or the day after, Manley said.
“Now we are nine calendar days out on shipping,” he said. “It was 14 days this summer for shipping.”
A proposed plan to suspend orders of spirits from customers July 10-20 to allow the warehouse to catch up with existing orders did not occur due to opposition, Manley said.
Some problems with the ABC warehouse distributing product are due to manpower issues that stem from a lack of increased funding by the state legislature and that’s nothing new, Jackson said. “We’ve been seeing delivery issues for 10-12 years and COVID has compounded that,” he said.
The warehouse operates a day shift for receiving cases of wine and liquor and a night shift for shipping them out to the 2,183 permittees after they place orders, Manley said. Excluding the administrative employees, there are 35 day-shift employees and 47 night-shift employees at the warehouse. “We have hired temps to help with the workload,” Manley said.
Consolidation warehouses across the country ship both wine and spirits to Mississippi and if a truck from one of those warehouses misses its appointed time to unload at the ABC warehouse, it can take two to three weeks to schedule another time, Jackson said. “It’s a logistical issue right now,” he said.
Should a truck miss its scheduled appointment time at the warehouse, “it is on them, not the ABC,” Manley said.
Matt Basden, director at McDade’s Wine & Spirits in Jackson, said significant improvement in the overall availability of wine and liquor has been made.
“We’re not experiencing as many out of stocks,” he said. Imports such as French and Italian wines are challenging to obtain, Basden said, but that’s for logistical reasons related to coronavirus.
Pete Clark, owner of Madison Cellars in Madison, said inventories are leveling out for many stores because customers have been stocking up.
“There are some things we would like to have, but we have the staples mostly,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a problem for people to have a good selection of stuff, despite setbacks due to coronavirus and how the state (warehouse) couldn’t keep up.”
Wine enthusiasts should keep in mind that the small wineries they may have visited on vacation create limited amounts of wines and that can make it difficult to obtain their products, Clark said. In that case, the problem is with the winery, not the ABC, he said.
If a customer is unable to find a favorite wine on the shelves, it’s usually possible to secure something similar in taste or price, he said.
Sean Summers, owner of Calistoga Wine & Spirits in Ridgeland, has learned to place orders for wine and liquor as early as 5 a.m. and as late as 12:15 a.m.
“I know to get up early and place orders,” he said. “Some of these stores blame everything on the state and say they can’t get this or that.”
Even with the pandemic causing uncertainty about how families will celebrate Thanksgiving, liquor store owners still expect to see increased traffic the Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday as customers buy rose’, sparkling wine and liquor to serve.
December is expected to be busy, as always, as customers purchase wine and liquor for gifts and prepare for get-togethers throughout the month and that should continue into January with New Year’s celebrations.
Jackson thinks some families may shy away from huge Christmas celebrations due to coronavirus, but they will still enjoy the holidays with food and drink. “I think people are going to enjoy the holidays like they always have,” he said.
Summers expects his customers will purchase liquor for gifts at Christmas, as they have in other years, noting that one product is always most popular. “Bourbon. End of story,” he said.
