Editor’s Be aware: We’re recognizing our High 100 Retailers within the beverage alcohol retail trade from the previous yr, together with Firehall Liquors in Barnesville, MN, and our 2025 Retailer of the 12 months, Garfield’s Beverage.
With wine gross sales dropping momentum, liquor shops are getting artistic with how they’re making up for the loss.
For Firehall Liquors, which means promoting low-dose THC merchandise and alluring meals vans to park of their lot on Fridays. Retailer proprietor Randi Trowbridge says the THC merchandise are so profitable, they’ve even outpaced wine gross sales.
“We started promoting THC merchandise in September of 2023, and we have now seen a rise in gross sales every month,” he says. “In 2024, we surpassed our expectations, with THC gross sales surpassing wine gross sales by 6%.”
Nestled into the nook of Hwy 9 and Hwy 34 in Barnesville, MN, Trowbridge additionally sees an inflow of shoppers touring to the shop from North Dakota, the place THC merchandise aren’t offered.
Meals Truck Fridays
Firehall Liquors constructed and opened a brand new location on January 4, 2022, boasting extra room for extra merchandise and actions. And whereas that is nonetheless their one and solely location, it permits Trowbridge to usher in extra income.
The brand new location has additionally made vital enhancements within the final 12 months, together with including low-dose THC merchandise, decreasing wine choices and resetting the beer cave and cooler doorways to scrub up cabinets and maintain them organized for purchasers.
Firehall Liquors additionally has a neighborhood meals truck come and arrange of their car parking zone from Might by September, which has helped improve buyer site visitors and gross sales.
“We started Meals Truck Fridays after a troublesome 2023 yr,” explains Trowbridge. “In 2023, we had highway development that decreased our buyer site visitors considerably. The city to the east of Barnesville was going to have highway development that might be impacting companies for 2 years, so we reached out to certainly one of our favourite eating places and requested in the event that they want to arrange their meals truck to help with gross sales.”
Meals Truck Fridays has resulted in elevated gross sales for each Firehall Liquors and the restaurant.
“Clients place their order with the meals truck, then proceed to come back into the shop for his or her purchases whereas their meals is being ready. It really works nice for each of us,” says Trowbridge.
Rising Income
Throughout a time when wine, beer and spirits gross sales have been lower than fascinating, Firehall Liquors is managing to maintain the momentum up and gross sales escalating.
“Due to low-dose THC merchandise, regardless that our
wine gross sales are down, THC gross sales are sturdy and helped us end final yr with an 8.2% improve in complete gross sales,” Trowbridge says.
All through the subsequent yr, Trowbridge says he’ll proceed selling Meals Truck Fridays in addition to rising his THC merchandise part.
Apart from THC merchandise, Firehall Liquors additionally prides itself on its buyer satisfaction to assist enhance income.
“We’re a municipal liquor retailer in Northwest Minnesota. We’re a part of an incredible rural neighborhood that helps its native companies,” notes Trowbridge. “Our product sales simply surpassed $1million within the first yr of our new location and it’s rising annually. We could not have the ability to compete with the massive field shops, however we deliver a way of neighborhood and powerful customer support to our prospects, and due to that, we’re profitable.”
Krystina Skibo is the Commerce Managing Editor at Beverage Dynamics. Attain her at kskibo@epgacceleration.com. Learn her latest piece, Liquor Shops Make Room for Hashish and CBD Drinks.
