B1 Liquor Store
Manases Yatnalkar
The Department operates more than 50 State Liquor and Wine Stores. A state liquor and wine store, operated by state employees, carries a full line of liqueurs, wines, spirits, and some full strength beers. These stores are found in the more populated areas of the state.
The general public can also purchase alcohol for off-premise consumption from more than 100 Package Agencies - liquor outlets operated by private individuals or corporate entities under contract with the state for the purpose of selling packaged liquor, wine and beer. Package Agencies are located in communities too small to warrant the establishment of a state store; in wineries, distilleries, or breweries that have been granted a manufacturing license by the commission; and in resorts and hotels where the outlets exist primarily for the benefit of their guests.
A beer shop (also referred to as a beershop or beer store) is a retail store where beer and other goods related to beer are sold; it is a specialised type of liquor store. Beer shops can be found all around the world, but there are many located in countries where beer is a major cultural product, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scandinavian countries, the UK and the US. Beer shops range in size, and may be located along streets or in shopping malls. Some shops offer only regional beer brands which are famous or well known in their region. Others offer a wide range of beer from around the world, and some items may fetch fairly high prices, as with fine wines.[1]
Due to the increase of craft brewing companies, many beer shops sell craft beers from local or international microbreweries, and some such breweries have their own beer shops for selling their own wares and sometimes those of partner breweries, either in regular bottles or in growlers,[2] large, reusable jugs used to transport beer.
Some beer shops also offer beer tastings, homebrewing classes, and speciality goods like beer jam, beer mustard, beer chocolate, craft cheeses, and hop hard liquor. The shops are usually staffed by trained employees, sometimes even beer sommeliers who have a broad knowledge of the topic of beer.
Licensed alcohol retailers are commonly called liquor shops[3] or wine shops.[4] Despite the name, wine shops primarily sell beer and hard liquor, and may not, in fact, sell wine at all.
In southern India, shops licensed to manufacture and sell only palm wine (toddy) are known as toddy shops, while the shops of Tamil Nadu's alcohol monopoly TASMAC are known as "Tasmac outlets"[5] or "Tasmac bars", and some permit consumption on-premises.
Alcohol is widely available in Japan from convenience stores and supermarkets. Dedicated liquor stores are known as sakaya (酒屋), while establishments for drinking on premises are izakaya (居酒屋). Vending machines retailing alcoholic drinks remain common, although a "voluntary ban" was imposed in 2000.[6]
South Korea's old history on alcohol and traditions related to it shows that Korea is widely open to different types of alcohols, which can be easily seen in convenience stores and supermarkets, as well as Korean barbecue houses and hop(beer) houses. There are also stores that specialize in traditional and imported alcohol.
In Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain all supermarkets, convenience stores, and petrol stations may sell beer, wine, and liquors only if they possess a licence. The consumption of alcohol on premises is not forbidden, but is frowned upon. In the Netherlands supermarkets are allowed to sell alcoholic beverages up to 15% ABV, hard liquor is only sold from specialized bottle shops.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland the corresponding term is off-licence, which refers to the fact that alcohol may be bought on the licensed premises, but must be consumed off the premises. Almost all supermarkets and groceries, and many petrol stations, have an off-licence.
In the United Kingdom, the "off-licence" status of a shop could once be used as a device to circumvent restrictive trading laws, particularly those concerning Sunday trading. Depending on local by-laws, shops might be either required to close at noon once a week, or else not be allowed to trade in the evening. Shops with an off-licence made their hours similar to those of public houses, opening during lunch hours and from early evening to the mandatory closing time, usually 22:30 or 23:00.[8] The Sunday Trading Act 1994 exempted liquor store (and any shops that sells alcohol) from its effects.[9] The mandatory closing time for any licensed liquor stores are regulated by Licensing Act 2003 instead.[10]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, all pubs closed during the lockdown from 20 March 2020. However, on 25 March, off-licences were added to the list of essential businesses allowed to stay open, also enabling pubs and brewery taprooms with licences to sell beer for home consumption to offer takeaway sales and home deliveries.[11]
The Twenty-first Amendment of the United States Constitution allows states to regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.[19] State regulations vary widely. The majority of the U.S. states have laws specifying which alcoholic beverages must be sold in specialty liquor stores and which may be sold in other venues.
In seventeen alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the specialty liquor stores are owned and operated exclusively by the state government, where liquor stores often sell only spirits or sometimes sell spirits and wine but not beer. ABC-run stores may be called ABC stores or state stores.
In Alabama, Connecticut,[20] Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts,[21][22] Rhode Island, and Texas,[20] liquor stores are also known as package stores; locally in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and areas bordering these states the term pack or packie is used as well, because purchased liquor must be packaged in sealed bottles or other containers when it is taken from the store.[23]
In two states (Minnesota, and Utah), only low-point beer may be sold in supermarkets or gas stations. In Utah, stores not owned and operated by the state are known as Package Agencies. These are liquor outlets operated by private individuals or corporate entities under contract with the state for the purpose of selling packaged liquor, wine and beer to the general public for off-premise consumption. Package Agencies are located in communities too small to warrant the establishment of a state store, and in resorts and hotels where the outlets exist primarily for the benefit of their guests. In Minnesota there are both private liquor stores or city-owned municipal liquor stores.[24] They are sometimes known as "Off Sales", meaning purchase for off-premises consumption, similar to "Off-licence" in the UK. A bar or tavern is an "On Sale" where liquor is consumed on-premises. Municipal liquor stores are sometimes called "Munis."[24]
In some states (e.g., California, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin), all alcoholic beverages can be sold practically anywhere, including drug stores and gas stations.[citation needed]
In Washington state, all beer and wine are available in specialty stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, department stores, taverns, and other locations. All spirits are available in stores greater than 10,000 square feet (930 m2; such as grocery stores, big box liquor chains, and drug stores). There are two exceptions to the 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) rule: 1) former state and contract liquor stores that reopened under private ownership may also sell spirits provided they have been issued a new license from the state; and 2) cities, mostly in rural areas, that do not have a store that meets the minimum floor space may be allowed to sell spirits if the Liquor Control Board deems that there are no sufficient establishments within the trade area.[citation needed]
In 2012, Drizly, an alcohol e-commerce platform, launched its service in Boston allowing liquor stores to offer on-demand delivery. Other alcohol e-commerce platforms include Minibar, Saucey, and Bevz. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Instacart announced that users would be able to add alcohol to their pick-up orders.[26]
All provinces except Alberta have government-owned retail liquor retailers, with varying levels of quasi-monopoly status. Alberta has only privately owned liquor stores. Elsewhere in the country, there is a mix of public and privately owned retail outlets. Etymology varies across Canada; regional terms used in addition to 'liquor store' include 'off-sale' in the Prairie Provinces.
I'm a liquor store owner. I have been using Square for the past 4 months. So far it has been great compared to the other liquor store specific POS systems, however, I think square really needs to add features specific to liquor stores. For instance, the ability to swap items from distributors, entering free goods into the system, adding the ability to enter inventory based on case quantity and price and this would automatically break down the cost per bottle, etc... I also would love a feature where I can change prices automatically for each category based on margin. For instance if we assign a particular category 20% profit margin, it would automatically calculate the retail price based on the cost already in the system and possibly even round up or down (retail of $5.79 would round up to $5.99 and retail of $5.04 would round down to $4.99). All in all its a great system, but definitely needs a lot more features and functionality for liquor stores.
We are in the process of migrating from LightSpeed POS to Square Retail Plus (SRP). We can't say it's been easy as I've spent more time (hours) than we wanted. There are certainly issues with SRP as there are with other POS systems. In particular, deposits, lottery, 2for specials or multi specials, the discounts are very limited as the only options are % and $, top-level categories only, and there's no way (I can find) to have a pop-up menu when scanning a UPC code to select different package options.
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