MONDAY MIXER
A variety of changes to the alcohol industry blend together for historic day
John Holt walked into Midwest Wine & Spirits shortly after 10 a.m. Monday looking to purchase some beer — preferably cold.
On the first day cold beer was available at Oklahoma liquor stores and fullstrength beer and wine could be bought at state grocery and convenience stores, reporters from The Oklahoman visited several retailers.
Holt was in search of Miller High Life and scanned the coolers at the Midwest City liquor store without seeing any.
It turns out, there wasn’t any of the High Life available cold, as a shipment had only been delivered late Saturday night. Holt was offered the opportunity to pick something else that was already chilled — the coolers were at 46 degrees and still dropping — but Holt went with what he came for, and the first customer on the historic day of transition left the store with room-temperature beer.
It wasn’t long before others made their way into the store, seeking their first cold purchases, but Holt wasn’t the only one still adjusting to the changes. A customer at Pancho’s Liquortown at 6801 N Meridian came in looking for any kind of beer that wasn’t very strong and left with a large bottle of
Victoria Beer. Another customer pulled a 30-pack of Bud Light from the cooler, only to later decide to purchase the same size case at room temperature, as he was planning on running errands and didn’t need the beer to be cold right away.
Grocers
At 6 a.m. inside Homeland at 1108 NW 18, Sean Mossman, director of sales and marketing for COOP Ale Works, helped cut the mesh protecting the beer cooler, which covered more than half the side of an aisle.
“It’s a combination of excitement, and the anxiety of building up to this moment all at the same time,” Mossman said.
Mossman said after years of prohibitive liquor laws in Oklahoma, there’s now a level playing field for local beer producers, which also benefits customers.
“The biggest advantage for consumers is convenience, for sure,” he said. “Previous laws made it difficult for consumers to get their hands on the beers they love.”
David Acchione, director of Center Store for Homeland, said with the new convenience, people will be able to buy their wine and dinner in the same location, which should bring in more customers.
“It’ll be great for footsteps on the floor,” he said.
For some consumers, the widespread availability of their favorite adult beverages marked a time to celebrate. At Trader Joe’s in Nichols Hills, two young mothers, each with a small child in their carts, asked another woman to take a photograph of them in front of the wine shelves before heading to the checkout line.
Around the corner, Ryan Kennedy picked out a pack of Prairie Picnic. Kennedy hasn’t yet compared the cost to other outlets, but the ability to grab some of his favorite beer at a nearby store was enough to get him excited about the new law.
“I haven’t noticed if it’s the same prices, but this saves me a lot of time,” he said.
Liquor stores
It’s been the best of times, and now there is serious concern the worst of times lay ahead.
Pancho’s Liquortown owner Brenda Wilson said her store sold a record amount of beer in September, as gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores saw their stock of 3.2 percent alcohol by weight products diminish leading up to Monday. But when the calendar turned over to the new month, allowing Wilson to sell refrigerated beer for the first time, she saw no noticeable bump in sales in the early hours of business.
“It’s been a normal Monday,” Wilson said.
Wilson is now competing with the Walmarts, the OnCues, the Targets and others across the metro and Oklahoma for strong beer and wine sales. Wilson worries it will hurt her business as well as other local liquor stores, but admits only time will tell.
“We will have to wait and see,” Wilson said.
Midwest Wine & Spirits owner Lisa Newport has seen similar high-volume sales in the past month and hopes to see those trends continue. Her husband made the first purchase of cold beer, a six-pack from Oklahoma City-based COOP Ale Works.
David Rhoades, visiting from Kansas, and Tracy Thomas purchased Blue Moon Mango Wheat and a Vanessa House. Rhoades is accustomed to cold beer in liquor stores, and was surprised in the past when Rhoades and his wife visited Thomas and her husband. The pair were grateful it wasn’t roomtemperature anymore.
“It’s about time,” they said at the same time.
Convenience stores
Scott Minton, director of business development for OnCue, said Monday marked the convenience store’s biggest sales day in history — for wine sales.
Of course, before Monday, OnCue stores had never sold wine. Minton said OnCue stores began selling full-strength beer and wine just after midnight Monday.
At the Edmond store at 15th Street and Interstate 35, customers were able to walk directly into the “Beer Cave” to choose from more than a dozen brands of full-strength beer in a variety of sizes.
“We don’t have the Beer Caves at every location,” Minton said. “But we are in the process of converting those that don’t.”
Minton said OnCue isn’t looking to sell fine wines, but will have plenty of good wine that’s affordable. On top of more than a dozen beers and wines, shelves at the Edmond store also included hard ciders and spiked sparkling waters.