More Centre County liquor stores to reopen for curbside pickup amid COVID-19 pandemic

As state-owned liquor stores remain closed to the public during the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds more will begin offering curbside pickup next week, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said Friday.

Beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, 389 more Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations across the state will accept phone orders — the first 50 to 100 placed each day, according to the PLCB. Most stores will offer curbside service Monday through Saturday with pickups scheduled between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Participating stores in Centre County and surrounding areas are located at:

▪ 15 W. Olive St., Snow Shoe (387-4360), but with limited pickup hours of 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday;

▪ 230 Hamilton Ave., Hamilton Square Shopping Center, State College (863-6519);

▪ 323 Benner Pike, Benner Pike Shops, State College (689-1366);

▪ 178 Buckaroo Lane, Weis Markets Shopping Center, Bellefonte (355-2395);

▪ 1067 N. Front St., Peebles Plaza, Philipsburg (342-8153);

▪ 821 Centennial St., Houtzdale (378-4900), with pickup hours of 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; and

▪ 1260 Pennsylvania Ave., Tyrone (686-0150), with pickup from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Stores at 1682 N. Atherton St. (863-6525) and 127 Southridge Plaza (231-1797), both in State College, began offering curbside service earlier this week.

“Beginning Monday, we’ll have 565 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores across Pennsylvania accepting orders by phone for curbside pickup,” PLCB Chairman Tim Holden said in a news release. “We acknowledge that Pennsylvanians are frustrated with busy signals and want broader access to wine and spirits, so after learning from our experiences this past week, we’ve made improvements to process orders faster, expand the hours we take orders by phone, and be more flexible in scheduling pickups, even the same day, if pickup appointments are available.”

Orders will not be taken by email or voicemail and will be limited to six bottles. Customers must pay by credit card and are limited to one order per store per day.

During the program’s first four days this week, there were 38,145 orders totaling $3.64 million, according to the liquor board.

The PLCB is expanding online sales at FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com and is continuing to randomize access “to avoid overwhelming the site with high traffic.”

Pennsylvanians can also purchase alcohol for offsite consumption from licensed breweries, wineries and distilleries as well as bars, taverns, bottle shops, pizza/sub shops, supermarkets and convenience stores. Residents can also make purchases from beer distributors and wine shippers.

This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 4:55 PM.