The Asheville Alcoholic Beverage Control Board’s warehouse is expanding from 18,000 to almost 26,000 sq. ft. On this blog, we have often stated booze sales and alcoholism tend to run countercyclical with the economy, so make what you will of the claim that Asheville ABC stores have more than doubled sales since 2002. The preparation for even more expansion, we are told, is to enable the purchase en masse of products when sold at extremely low rates. It is not so much to address stock-outs that have occurred in the past. Saith the Mountain Xpress:
There have been months of drought for brands like Buffalo Trace bourbon, for example.
North Carolina government controls alcoholic beverages as if they were firearms – legitimized through certification by the powers that be and traded in diverse markets nonetheless. The state therefore controls the supply by releasing items from its master warehouse, preventing retailers from directly procuring items their customers demand – or even getting the items they order.
But do not be dismayed. We are told a portion of the proceeds from the sale of alcoholic beverages, $155,000 from about $30 million, goes to city and county government for alcohol education and rehabilitation programs. It’s sort of like curing a paper cut with a hammer blow. Said Jason Thacker, operations manager for the ABC Board
The more we make on these buy-ins, the more money we get to give the city and county. That’s the main thing.
