Liquor store
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store, party store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control states, the term ABC store may be used.
Beer shop
A beer shop is a retail store where beer and other goods related to beer are sold; it is a specialised type of liquor store. Beer shops can be found all around the world, but there are many located in countries where beer is a major cultural product, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scandinavian countries, the UK and the US. Beer shops range in size, and may be located along streets or in shopping malls. Some shops offer only regional beer brands which are famous or well known in their region. Others offer a wide range of beer from around the world, and some items may fetch fairly high prices, as with fine wines.Due to the increase of craft brewing companies, many beer shops sell craft beers from local or international microbreweries, and some such breweries have their own beer shops for selling their own wares and sometimes those of partner breweries, either in regular bottles or in growlers, large, reusable jugs used to transport beer.
Some beer shops also offer beer tastings, homebrewing classes, and speciality goods like beer jam, beer mustard, beer chocolate, craft cheeses, and hop hard liquor. The shops are usually staffed by trained employees, sometimes even beer sommeliers who have a broad knowledge of the topic of beer.
Asia
India
vary greatly from state to state, ranging from total prohibition to state monopolies to commercial licensing.Licensed alcohol retailers are commonly called liquor shops or wine shops. Despite the name, wine shops primarily sell beer and hard liquor, and may not, in fact, sell wine at all.
In southern India, shops licensed to manufacture and sell only palm wine are known as toddy shops, while the shops of Tamil Nadu's alcohol monopoly TASMAC are known as "Tasmac outlets" or "Tasmac bars", and some permit consumption on-premises.
Japan
Alcohol is widely available in Japan from convenience stores and supermarkets. Dedicated liquor stores are known as sakaya, while establishments for drinking on premises are izakaya. Vending machines retailing alcoholic drinks remain common, although a "voluntary ban" was imposed in 2000.South Korea
shows that Korea is widely open to different types of alcohols, which can be easily seen in convenience stores and supermarkets, as well as Korean barbecue houses and hop houses. There are also stores that specialize in traditional and imported alcohol.Europe
In Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain all supermarkets, convenience stores, and petrol stations may sell beer, wine, and liquors only if they possess a licence. The consumption of alcohol on premises is not forbidden, but is frowned upon. In the Netherlands supermarkets are allowed to sell alcoholic beverages up to 15% ABV, hard liquor is only sold from specialized bottle shops.An EU court sentenced in 2007 that individuals are allowed to order craft beer online within the EU without having to pass through national monopolies.
United Kingdom and Ireland
In the United Kingdom and Ireland the corresponding term is off-licence. In these countries alcohol licences are either on-license, referring to an establishment where alcohol may be purchased but must be consumed on the site, such as a pub, bar, nightclub or café; or off-license, referring to an establishment where alcohol may be purchased but must be consumed off the site. Almost all supermarkets and grocery stores, and many petrol stations, have an off-licence. You must not leave an on-licence with alcohol you purchased there, while you must leave an off-licence before consuming alcohol you purchased there.In the United Kingdom, the "off-licence" status of a shop could once be used as a device to circumvent restrictive trading laws, particularly those concerning Sunday trading. Depending on local by-laws, shops might be either required to close at noon once a week, or else not be allowed to trade in the evening. Shops with an off-licence made their hours similar to those of public houses, opening during lunch hours and from early evening to the mandatory closing time, usually 22:30 or 23:00. The Sunday Trading Act 1994 exempted liquor store from its effects. The mandatory closing time for any licensed liquor stores are regulated by Licensing Act 2003 instead.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, all pubs closed during the lockdown from 20 March 2020. However, on 25 March, off-licences were added to the list of essential businesses allowed to stay open, also enabling pubs and brewery taprooms with licences to sell beer for home consumption to offer takeaway sales and home deliveries.
In the Republic of Ireland, there are five kinds of off-licence:
- Wine Retailer's Off Licence
- Beer Retailer's Off Licence
- Spirit Retailer's Off Licence
- Cider Retailer's Off Licence
- Sweets Retailer's Off Licence ; "sweets" includes products like mead, metheglin and made-wine.
Nordic countries
- Denmark – Alcoholic beverages can be bought at any grocery store or kiosk. There are several dedicated stores specialising in certain types of alcohol, typically wine or beer.
- Faroe Islands – Alcoholic beverages above 1.8% ABV can be bought in Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins, also known as Rúsan
- Finland – Grocery stores and kiosks may sell beer and other mildly alcoholic beverages during designated hours. All other alcohol must be purchased from Alko stores.
- Iceland – Can only be bought at Vínbúð stores.
- Norway – Alcoholic beverages above 4.8% ABV can only be bought at Vinmonopolet stores.
- Sweden – Grocery stores may sell beer no higher than 3.5% ABV. All other alcohol must be purchased in the state-run Systembolaget stores, and it even has some degree of control—also argued to be censorship—over the appearance of the labels.
North America
United States
The Twenty-first Amendment of the United States Constitution allows states to regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. State regulations vary widely. The majority of the U.S. states have laws specifying which alcoholic beverages must be sold in specialty liquor stores and which may be sold in other venues.In seventeen alcoholic beverage control states, the specialty liquor stores are owned and operated exclusively by the state government, where liquor stores often sell only spirits or sometimes sell spirits and wine but not beer. ABC-run stores may be called ABC stores or state stores.
In Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Texas, liquor stores are also known as package stores; locally in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and areas bordering these states the term pack or packie is used as well, because purchased liquor must be packaged in sealed bottles or other containers when it is taken from the store.
In two states, only low-point beer may be sold in supermarkets or gas stations. In Utah, stores not owned and operated by the state are known as Package Agencies. These are liquor outlets operated by private individuals or corporate entities under contract with the state for the purpose of selling packaged liquor, wine and beer to the general public for off-premise consumption. Package Agencies are located in communities too small to warrant the establishment of a state store, and in resorts and hotels where the outlets exist primarily for the benefit of their guests. In Minnesota there are both private liquor stores or city-owned municipal liquor stores. They are sometimes known as "Off Sales", meaning purchase for off-premises consumption, similar to "Off-licence" in the UK. A bar or tavern is an "On Sale" where liquor is consumed on-premises. Municipal liquor stores are sometimes called "Munis."
In some states, all alcoholic beverages can be sold practically anywhere, including drug stores and gas stations.
In Washington state, all beer and wine are available in specialty stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, department stores, taverns, and other locations. All spirits are available in stores greater than ; such as grocery stores, big box liquor chains, and drug stores). There are two exceptions to the rule: 1) former state and contract liquor stores that reopened under private ownership may also sell spirits provided they have been issued a new license from the state; and 2) cities, mostly in rural areas, that do not have a store that meets the minimum floor space may be allowed to sell spirits if the Liquor Control Board deems that there are no sufficient establishments within the trade area.
In parts of California, most notably Los Angeles, the term "liquor store" can often apply to any convenience store, corner store, minimart, or similar small local neighborhood grocery store.
In 2012, Drizly, an alcohol e-commerce platform, launched its service in Boston allowing liquor stores to offer on-demand delivery. Other alcohol e-commerce platforms include Minibar, Saucey, and Bevz. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Instacart announced that users would be able to add alcohol to their pick-up orders.