January 3, 2013
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginians bought more alcohol in the state's beverage control stores and restaurants as the state agency again saw a record profit in the last fiscal year.
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's most recent annual report says it has seen retail sales increase to record-breaking levels consecutively for the past 14 years, even as discussions continue about privatizing the state's liquor stores. The agency that runs more than 330 shops saw a profit of $132.1 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Gross wholesale and retail sales increased nearly 6 percent to $734 million. That translates to more than 10 million gallons of wine, spirits and nonalcoholic mixers.
"The Sunday sales was a big part of that," said Ronald Rosario, the manager of an ABC store in Charlottesville. "This just shows that our customers like to shop on that convenient day of Sunday."
Nearly 1.4 million cases of vodka were sold. But Jack Daniel's remained the top-selling brand based on dollar figures.
Rosario says the department has also cracked down on underage buying, catching minors 99 out of 100 times that they try to buy liquor.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
The comments sections of Newsplex.com are designed for thoughtful, intelligent conversation and debate. We want to hear from our viewers, but we only ask that you use your best judgment. E-mail is required, but will not be displayed with comment.
As a host Newsplex.com welcomes a wide spectrum of opinions. However this is a site that we host. We have a responsibility to all our readers to try to keep our comment section fair and decent. For that reason The Newsplex reserves the right to not post or to remove any comment.
If you have any ideas to improve the conversation or this section let us know. Send an e-mail to webmaster@newsplex.com.
powered by Disqus
