Outrageous fortune in wild west’s booze shops
Queues snaked around several blocks at liquor stores in West Auckland yesterday as thirsty Kiwis geared up for the second weekend in lockdown.
One West Auckland man, who tried to buy alcohol from West Liquor in both Glen Eden and Kelston, said a lot of people in the queues were not keeping a safe twometre distance.
He told the Weekend Herald he didn’t feel comfortable lining up. “There’s no way that it’s safe for everyone,” he said. In both stores he tried to visit, he said the queue stretched around the block.
Footage posted on Instagram shows hundreds of people queueing for West Liquor in Massey.
“Line for alcohol all the way around the store! West Liquor Westgate, Auckland. Alert 4 Lockdown this weekend, or party time?” the caption reads.
Another video shot yesterday afternoon shows a queue spanning multiple blocks, with hundreds of people lining up to purchase alcohol from West Liquor on Railside Ave, in Henderson.
“I think the trust should be online sellers like the rest of the country,” Amie, who lives in West Auckland, told the Weekend Herald.
“This is making a mockery of the lockdown and what we are ultimately trying to achieve. People from all over are travelling to get top shelf from the trusts.”
The trusts were granted essential service status, meaning they could stay open through alert level 4.
Trusts stores are operating on a one-in-one-out policy. On its website, it says only locals should travel to trusts stores to purchase alcohol.
“We are here to serve our West Auckland community — do not travel outside your local area to shop. We will report people who are travelling from outside West Auckland to shop with us to the police,” the trusts website says.
However, many West Aucklanders believe people from outside the area are travelling west for liquor.
The decision to allow trusts liquor stores to continue to operate during the lockdown in West Auckland has been highly contested by other local businesses which sell alcohol but have been forced to shut through this period.
New Zealanders across the country can purchase alcohol online and have it delivered to their door.
Vera Alves