Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores NAICS 445320

Oct 8, 2025 - Less Holiday Cheer

• According to PwC’s 2025 Holiday Outlook survey, consumers expect their seasonal spending to decline on average by 5% this year compared to 2024, the first notable drop since 2020. More broadly, 84% of consumers expect to cut back over the next six months, citing rising prices, new tariffs, and the high cost of living, according to PwC. That’s unwelcome news for beer, wine and liquor stores, whose sales peak during the winter holidays. While overall average consumer spending is expected to drop 5%, Gen Z respondents (ages 17 to 28) said they plan to cut their holiday budgets by 23%, much more than their elders. Gen Z is also drinking less alcohol than previous generations, a longer-term concern for liquor retailers. However, AlixPartners 2025 US Retail Holiday Outlook forecasts an increase in spending on at-home holiday food and beverage spending, primarily driven by high-income households.
• As of August 1, wine and spirits from the European Union face a 15% US import tariff until a different deal between the two countries is reached, Reuters reports. Previously, the US tariff on European wine and spirits was 10%. Brussels would like tariffs reduced to zero or, for wine at least, to the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rates that are set on a fixed cost per liter basis, rather than in percentage terms. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) also would like to see tariffs reduced to zero. "It is extremely disappointing and utterly exasperating that the US and EU have not yet come to an agreement on spirits, which is an easy win for the United States that will help secure our economic vitality during this challenging time for the hospitality industry," DISCUS CEO Chris Swonger said in a statement.

• California shoppers may find empty shelves at beer, wine, liquor stores this summer due to the sudden departure of the nation’s second-largest wine-and-spirits distributor Republic National Distributing Company. RNDC exited California in early September, leaving thousands of retailers without a distributor – and producers without a wholesaler for their brands. California law requires wine and spirits makers to go through a wholesaler to sell their products to retailers and restaurants. The CEO of RNDC, Bob Hendrickson, cited “rising operational costs, industry headwinds, and supplier changes that made the market unsustainable,” for the departure. RNDC’s sudden exit left the US’s largest wine market without a key distributor, as brands like Tito’s and Jack Daniel’s vanished from store shelves. Relatively high business taxes, wages, energy costs, and defections by suppliers to rival Reyes Beverage Group caused Texas-based RNDC to quit the Golden State.
• Producer prices for beer, wine, and liquor retailers, which have been rising steeply since February, jumped 12.1% in August compared to a year ago, after falling 1.2% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The retail price of alcoholic beverages for home consumption rose 0.3% year over year in August and increased 0.6% from July, according to the Labor Department's August 2025 Consumer Price Index report. Employment by beer, wine, and liquor stores fell 1.1% YoY in July, while the average industry wage rose 5.9% over the same period to a new high of $19.78 per hour, BLS data show.