Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 31,500 beer, wine, and liquor stores in the US sell alcoholic beverages to individuals and businesses. They are the third tier in the three-tier system of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Seventeen US states operate state-controlled liquor stores, known as Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) stores.
Alternative Channel Competition
Supermarkets, big box and convenience stores that are permitted to market and sell alcohol have several advantages over specialty liquor stores.
Regulations Affect Operations
Alcohol retailers are one of the most tightly regulated retail industries.
Industry size & Structure
An average beer, wine, or liquor store has 6 employees an generates $2.3 million in annual revenue.
- 31,500 US firms generate $71.5 billion in revenue with 178,000 employees.
- 88% of firms are single establishments.
- The top 50 firms account for 24% of sales and 16% of employees.
- 46% of all revenue comes from stores with fewer than 10 employees.
- There are currently 17 monopoly or "control" states in the US where the state controls the distribution or retailing of alcohol. Large control states include Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Control jurisdictions represent approximately a quarter of the nation’s population and account for roughly 23.0% of distilled spirit sales and a significantly smaller percentage of beer and wine sales.
- Large chains include BevMo!, Total Wine & More, and Government-controlled ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) Stores.
Industry Forecast
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jun 8, 2024 - Sales And Prices Are Rising
- Producer prices for beer, wine, and liquor retailers rose 2.3% in March compared to a year ago after climbing 5.9% in the previous annual comparison, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rising retail sales for beer, wine, and liquor stores (BWLS) – up 4.3% in March year over year – and sustained consumer spending are supporting higher alcoholic beverage prices. Meanwhile, BWLS employment grew 2.7% in March while average industry wages rose 2.7% over the same period to $17.58 per hour, BLS data show.
- Breweries struggling to compete with hard seltzers, canned cocktails, and slack demand from younger consumers are promoting beers with alcohol content approaching 10%, essentially double the alcohol by volume (ABV) of traditional brews, Axios Denver reports. Colorado breweries, including Coors-owned A.C. Golden, New Belgium Brewing, and Breckenridge Brewery, have all introduced beers with ABV at or above 9.5%. The high-ABV trend is being driven by consumers looking for more bang for their buck, brewers and analysts told Axios. At the other end of the spectrum, consumer interest in nonalcoholic and low-ABV beers is booming, with non-alcoholic beer the fastest-growing segment of the US beer market, The Wall Street Journal reported in February. Segmentation in the beer market is driven by consumers seeking out beers for different occasions, which means beer, wine, and liquor stores will want to stock beers across the ABV spectrum to meet changes in demand.
- Sales of America’s biggest whiskey brand, Jack Daniel’s Old No 7, have been falling for months, and maker Brown-Forman is forecasting a sluggish US whiskey business for at least the next year, The Wall Street Journal reported in March. Whiskey makers’ US revenue – which soared during the pandemic along with revenue of other spirits makers – fell 2.2% in 2023 to $12.3 billion, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, while revenue was flat overall for makers of spirits. Inflation and high interest rates have some consumers spending less on alcohol while others are reducing their alcohol consumption for health reasons, according to WSJ. Categories with year-over-year case volume growth in the eight weeks ended February 24 include tequila and cordials, while gin, brandy, rum, and cognac each posted declines in case volumes, a Bump Williams analysis of Nielsen data cited by WSJ shows.
- In a blow to home alcohol delivery, Uber has shuttered its alcohol delivery app Drizly, which it acquired for $1.1 billion in 2021, The Wall Street Journal reports. Uber bought Drizly, founded in 2012 after pandemic lockdowns boosted alcohol-delivery sales. Drizly currently delivers beer, wine, and spirits in the 36 states where it’s legal and partners with retailers in the US and Canada. Drizly’s home-delivery service has failed to catch on with consumers in the 36 states in which it operates, capturing only a tiny portion of overall consumption, according to WSJ. Other challenges faced by the company included The Federal Trade Commission’s order last year that Drizly implement new data security measures after hackers stole information about 2.5 million customers in 2020. Drizly shut down at the end of March, and Uber said it plans to incorporate alcohol delivery into Uber Eats.
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