Bag and String Wine Merchants of Lakewood has increased home delivery orders and added curbside pickup options in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Many stores that saw spikes in sales early on have now seen the rush taper off. P-J photo by Jay Young

Area liquor stores saw a significant increase in sales during the start of the coronavirus outbreak, but the rush has now tapered off.

Designated as essential businesses during the shutdown, store owners across the state have been able to keep their staffs on the payroll while many bars and restaurants have been forced to make cutbacks.

“We were pretty, pretty busy,” said Kerry Migliore, manager of Evans Discount Liquor and Wines on East Fairmount Avenue. Two weeks ago, Migliore and his staff saw a spike in business, with customers typically buying more volume than usual.

“But now it has kind of relaxed,” he said. “Once 7 o’clock hits it is kind of dead, people have kind of adjusted. It was definitely busier, almost as busy as Christmas. Instead of maybe buying a liter, customers were maybe buying two magnums instead. Volume and quantity were increased.”

Liquor stores have come to expect increases in business during certain times of the year, like Christmas and the Fourth of July, when their customers often host friends and family at home. The spike in sales as a result of a worldwide illness is entirely novel.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Migliore said. “It’s like nothing I can think of, nothing I can remember. Quite unique. We’ve got our usual crew and they are holding up well.”

The impact has been felt differently for other suppliers, like Bag and String Wine Merchants of Lakewood.

“We saw a big influx of people from other areas that have lake houses,” said owner Sam Whitmore. “This is just my assumption, I don’t know what the motivation was. I think a lot of people if they had the ability to go somewhere out of the bigger metropolitan areas that have been affected, may have come to this area that is a lot less populous.”

Customers visiting Western New York from other parts of the country for vacation have always been a customer base for Whitmore, one that often chooses the delivery option from Bag and String.

Since the start of the outbreak, the store now offers curbside pickup with online ordering so that customers do not have to leave their vehicles. The store has also set limits on the number of customers allowed in the building at one time, and is taking precautions to sanitize counters and other areas.

“We’ve seen a lot of people making use of that (pickup) which has been great for everybody,” Whitmore said. “It is safer for my employees, there is that delicate balance of them being glad they can work, that we were considered essential, but there is still concern around the spreading of the virus.”

Whitmore also believes there has been an increase in liquor sales for Bag and String, in addition to wine. With the public being forced to stay home, purchase of alcohol has shifted from bars and restaurants entirely to liquor stores, grocery stores and other suppliers.

“I think you are seeing a small, but steady increase in at-home consumption,” Whitmore said. “People aren’t going out as much with bars and restaurants pretty much closed. People who might have a glass of wine out at a restaurant a few nights a week might be having that much, if not more, at home.”

The larger economic impact is easy to see from the windows of Bag and String as well.

“I have a hair salon on one side and a small diner on the other,” Whitmore said. “I feel bad for people who had to close down their stores. It breaks my heart, when you are a small business just trying to get by, I know what their struggles are. While it is an unfortunate time for our country, it has not negatively impacted my store. One takeaway is, I’m not looking to be a profiteer off of this but I’m glad I can keep my employees employed. None of us are in a financial situation where we can shut down our lives for the next month and a half.”

The industry’s sudden increase in demand has also impacted distributors who have been keeping up with purchasing at stores on the back end. “I think it started on the 16th (of March), that Monday is when the influx started,” said Bret Santilli, general sales manager for Empire Merchants North. “All of a sudden, that week business was kind of like the week leading up to Christmas. I think since then, since the governor deemed us essential, people have calmed down with the ‘We have to get out to the store and buy some stuff.’ The rest of last week was pretty much back to normal.”

Like liquor stores, distributors have been in the fortunate position of not having to cut back on staff immediately in the wake of the shutdown.

“Right now we’ve been 100% retained for our employees,” Santilli said, noting that the majority of the Empire North staff has switched to working from home when possible.

Thus far, Empire North has not had to address any major import or supply issues on products entering the country from Europe, but the full impact of the coronavirus on the market remains to be seen. If vineyards in Italy and France suffer staffing problems due to illness and quarantines, it could take some time for production to be affected. The next 30 days should provide more information on any potential issues, Santilli said.

Like Whitmore, Santilli shared the concern that bars and restaurants have been forced to close their doors to the public, and encouraged customers to give their business to local owners whenever possible.