Centre County liquor stores max out number of orders for first day of partial reopening
Two Centre Region liquor stores smoothly reopened Monday and received the maximum number of orders they could fulfill in a day, a state Liquor Control Board spokesman said.
Fine Wine & Good Spirits at 1682 N. Atherton St. in Patton Township and 127 Southridge Plaza in College Township were closed for weeks to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, but partially reopened Monday.
Each state-owned liquor store accepted about 50 orders by phone Monday, which are scheduled to be picked up curbside between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. within “a few days” of order placement, spokesman Shawn Kelly said.
Offering curbside pickup in a controlled, limited manner is expected to maintain public health best practices and fill a “pent-up demand,” PLCB Chairman Tim Holden said in a statement.
“We’re making strides in expanding service to Fine Wine & Good Spirits customers, but we know we’re facing pent-up demand for wine and spirits,” Holden said. “... We are aware we aren’t meeting the daily volume our network of almost 600 stores provided before this public health crisis, but we are hopeful that the more e-commerce and curbside pickup orders we can process over time, the better we’ll be able to serve more and more Pennsylvanians through this pandemic.”
Stores plan to accept calls daily between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., or until they reach the maximum number of orders they can fulfill Monday through Saturday.
The PLCB expects many customers will not be able to place an order immediately, but hopes to grow its fulfillment capacity. Additional locations are set to reopen after curbside pickup operations stabilize. For now, the Patton and College township stores are the only Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations to reopen in Centre County.
The PLCB is not considering reopening stores to the public as of Monday.
Curbside orders will be limited to one order of no more than six bottles. Only one order will be accepted per caller, per day.
Credit cards are the only accepted form of payment, and all curbside pickup sales are final. No orders will be accepted by email or voicemail.
The ability to place orders online is randomized to avoid overwhelming the system, prevent order abuse and prolong access throughout the day so order availability “isn’t exhausted in seconds or minutes each day,” the PLCB said.
Despite limitations at state-owned liquor stores, Pennsylvanians have thousands of options to purchase alcohol.
Nearly 1,000 licensed breweries, wineries and distilleries may sell their own products for off-premise consumption.
Licensed restaurants, bars, taverns, bottle shops, supermarkets and convenience stores can sell up to 192 ounces — generally two six packs — per transaction.
Restaurant licensees with expanded wine permits may also sell up to three liters of wine to go per transaction. Beer distributors may continue sales for off-premise consumption.