NEWS & OPINION FEATURE
DRY COUNTY
ABC struggles to keep up with liquor demand in Mecklenburg County
Pg. 4 NOV 3 - NOV 16, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM
BY RYAN PITKIN
her the company had run out of glass bottles, leading to supply shortages there. “Then it kind of just snowballed from there,” she said. As time progressed, DeLoach found that her weekly orders for liquor from Mecklenburg ABC were becoming less reliable. According to laws enforced by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, DeLoach must order from an assigned ABC store in her county. Hattie’s is assigned to Store 19 on North Tryon Street. Since that specific store serves as the warehouse for the county, one would expect it to be one of the more reliably stocked locations. However, as time has gone on, it’s become more rare for her to receive the things she orders. “If I wanted to place my regular order, I would only get 10% of it,” she told Queen City Nerve.
from Mecklenburg ABC about what’s being done to fix it. “They didn’t say anything,” DeLoach said, looking back to the beginning of the shortage issue. “It was basically, ‘Figure it out.’ My liquor reps, they would kind of give us heads up on certain things, but we’re fed to the wolves. ‘Go figure it out and go run a business with only 20% of liquor coming from your actual store.’”
Addressing the liquor shortage
In a public Facebook post on Oct. 20, the On July 15, the NCSA and Mecklenburg County owner of a popular cocktail bar in Charlotte ABC Board issued a joint statement addressing posted a screenshot of a North Carolina Alcoholic product availability and industry challenges. Beverage Control (NC ABC) liquor order he was “Challenges in logistics as well as availability attempting to fill out online. In the picture, 15 of of raw materials across multiple categories and the 16 available brands in the frame came with a industries impacted by the results of the COVID-19 warning: “Item has low stock.” This means a bar pandemic are prevalent,” the statement read. “For owner can order that brand, but they may not get the order filled. “How do I run a business like this? No I am really asking…” read the caption. Among the 146 responses were not many answers to the question at hand, but dozens of confirmations and commiserations from fellow bar owners and managers in Mecklenburg County. “Just ordered like $1,500 worth and they filled less than $300,” wrote the owner of a popular music venue. “Weekly 12-15k order gets dwindled down to 3k-5k max if we are lucky,” added the owner of a new South End restaurant. Another said their $4,000 order resulted in just $2,100 worth of product. In July, the North Carolina Spirits Association (NCSA) and Mecklenburg County Alcoholic PHOTO BY DION BEARY A LOOK AT THE SHELVES AT A MECKLENBURG ABC STORE ON OCT. 28. Beverage Control Board addressed the shortage, blaming it on consumer consumption trends the spirituous liquor industry, glass and key raw While orders used to be filled on the day they material ingredients for plastic closures are the coupled with disruptions in logistics. In the time since, local bar and restaurant were placed, DeLoach now finds herself waiting main drivers of constraint. Multiple suppliers are owners say things have only gotten worse. While three to five days to see what they can sell to her. escalating alternative options as quickly as possible If ABC is short on a cheaper brand, known in bars to address this challenge. Compounding conditions, shortage are not uncommon in a wide range of industries thanks to supply-chain issues across the and restaurants as a “well” brand, they’ll replace it the industry has experienced a significant decline in globe, service industry folks in surrounding counties with another cheap brand, but if a name brand is number of drivers.” and South Carolina say they aren’t experiencing the short in supply, ABC simply leaves it out of the order. The release also pointed to a skyrocketing It’s only when DeLoach finally receives her order demand for liquor in Mecklenburg County and same issues. So what’s going on in Mecklenburg that she can she go looking for whatever was not statewide as one reason for the shortage. County? included. “Easing COVID-19 restrictions has resulted in an Lately, she’s had to go to five or six stores each explosive comeback in the on-premise industry,” the The shortage begins For Jackie DeLoach, owner of Hattie’s Tap & week just to find the different brands she needs to statement read. “This is a positive for our on-premise Tavern, the problems began in early 2021 with a run her business. The max amount of locations she’s customers/businesses. Consumer retail sales in Mecklenburg County ABC stores continue to outpace tequila shortage. After that, sales reps with the had to hit in one day has been eight. What’s worse, she said there is no communication prior year sales. The increased demand on both sides popular Kentucky whiskey brand Bulleit informed
contribute to the current conditions.” According to the July release, on-premise businesses (bars, restaurants and other places where alcohol can be consumed on the property) in Mecklenburg County in the second quarter of 2021 alone sold about 65% of the amount of bottles sold in all of 2020, while retail sales — bought for private use at local ABC stores — that quarter were more than 50% of the bottles sold in 2020. Queen City Nerve was able to view the Mecklenburg County ABC sales data over the last four years, ending in August 2021, and found that off- and on-premise sales have indeed increased in 2021. The total dollar amount through August, which sits just above $132 million including on- and offpremise sales, is about a 17% increase compared to the same time frame in 2020, and a 16% increase from 2019. While liquor sales are up across the state, the increase isn’t as dramatic as it is in Mecklenburg County.
What’s being done?
A Mecklenburg ABC spokesperson refused Queen City Nerve’s request for comment, telling us, “Our staff is not providing interviews at this time as they are focused on solutions in meeting customer demands around the current supply chain disruptions that are resulting in low product availability and staffing.” The spokesperson did provide a flyer that lists ways Mecklenburg ABC is working to address the shortage. These include receiving direct shipments from distillers and spirit brokers, developing a new online ordering system and planning a curbside pickup pilot program for early 2022. Mecklenburg ABC has also acknowledged they are dealing with their own worker shortage and staff burnout. The board says it has hired a third district manager and three assistant district managers to support operations while also developing an “employee bonus referral program” to help with hiring. Mecklenburg ABC offers a $15-per-hour starting wage for full-time associates. Queen City Nerve was able to speak over email with Meredith McCormack, president of the NCSA, an organization of retail, brokers and suppliers that represent 96% of total spirits sales in North Carolina. “As we stand at the end of October, there have been some improvements to address the current supply challenges mainly through improved deliveries from the state warehouse to Mecklenburg ABC, as well as suppliers coordinating direct
