“Buy early,” recommends the deputy director of DABC, as state-run liquor stores grapple with supply chains and staff shortages.

The alcohol business in Utah is booming, but supply chain issues and staff shortages are straining state-run liquor stores.

Every day, about 6,000 bottles of liquor are sold in Utah, with total retail sales up $ 13 million from the same period last year, the Department of Control’s chief financial officer said. alcoholic beverages, Sean Willford. Tuesday DABC committee meeting. Year-to-date retail sales have climbed to $ 175 million, more than the $ 162 million the department earned around this time last year.

“What this shows overall is increased profitability and, of course, a little bit of pressure on our retail stores with limited staff,” Willford told the commission, which oversees liquor sales. and licenses in the state of the hive. “But the numbers are rising again to 2019 levels and above.”

The Thanksgiving holiday saw a record number of alcohol sales, he added.

DABC Commissioner Stanley Parrish pointed out that three new state-run liquor stores were added in the past year – in Farmington, Saratoga Springs and Taylorsville – and that total sales in all three regions had increased.

Commission Chairman Tom Jacobson said DABC’s operating costs have also increased this year, as have other wholesale and retail companies, with supply chain and fuel costs higher costs and increased labor costs. But even still, those investments should generate more income for the Utahns this year.

Willford said the DABC donated $ 214 million to the state general fund last year and said 2021 was “on track to do much more than that.”

“Even if we spend more, we always return more to the general fund and to local communities,” he said.

Before the Thanksgiving holiday, Utahn bought even more liquor from state stores.

Cade Meier, deputy director of the DABC, told the committee that in the five days leading up to the holiday, state-run stores saw an almost 15% increase in activity compared to the same period l ‘last year.

“There were a few bumps,” he said, due to supply chain issues and staff shortages. Most state-run stores are not fully staffed, he added, and some have been forced to close early.

To keep customers up to date on spirits that can be hard to find at state-run liquor stores, the DABC operates a website that tracks supply chain shortages: https://abc.utah.gov/supply-chain-shortages/

“Shop early,” Meier encouraged customers, whom he thanked for their patience this year. “Try to get in, make those purchases as soon as you can.” I think it will help everyone to enjoy the holidays even more.

Utah state-run liquor stores are busiest on the Friday and Saturday before Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, he said, with busy hours starting at 16 hours.