As part of its more commercial structure over the past six years, ABC has added stores, expanded hours and days of operation – opening on Sundays, and added more traditional retail service offerings such as the online ordering, curbside pickup and delivery.

Everything has helped increase its annual sales, according to the ABC report.

In the latest fiscal year sales report, retail sales were up 14.7% year-over-year with six new stores grossing nearly $ 4.9 million. Sunday sales also rose 11.8%, or $ 104.9 million. In online sales and services, ABC recorded a total of 151,914 online orders in fiscal 2021, nearly double the 75,793 online orders last year, with just over 108,000 orders. for curbside pickup, up from 23,669 in 2020. ABC’s home delivery service, which it started piloting in one city in May 2020 and expanded to four other cities – including Richmond – in late November, recorded 3,517 orders.

Licensee sales – that is, alcohol sales to restaurants and bars – also increased 5.6% year-over-year, which ABC says shows signs of recovery for the state’s restaurant and hospitality businesses, which have seen a sharp drop in sales amid the pandemic. But compared to the previous year’s numbers, it’s clear restaurants haven’t fully rebounded from their pre-pandemic sales.

The 5.6% increase in the latest report compares licensee sales 2020-2021 to 2019-2020, which includes March, April, and May 2020 – when restaurants saw the biggest sales declines amid closures of dining rooms. Eischen noted that when the June 2020 to July 2021 sales figures for licensees are compared to fiscal 2019, licensee sales fell 14.8%.