Western Pa. liquor stores will reopen for in-person sales with some restrictions
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More than 100 state liquor stores across Allegheny, Westmoreland and the surrounding counties will open for in-person sales Friday as the region moves into the yellow phase of its tiered reopening.
The 155 Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores will open across the dozens of counties that have seen or will see eased pandemic-related restrictions under the governor’s reopening plan.
In Allegheny County, 71 locations — including in the Waterworks Mall, Robinson Plaza Town Center and Edgewood Towne Center — will open with strict guidelines in place to continue coronavirus mitigation efforts.
Twenty-three stores in Westmoreland County also will reopen, including two in Hempfield and one each in Greensburg and Latrobe.
In Butler County, nine stores will open, along with 10 in Washington and four in Indiana counties.
The stores that reopen will limit the number of customers who can be inside at any time. No more than 25 customers and employees will be permitted inside at one time, with that limit being lower for smaller stores, according to the Liquor Control Board.
The first hour each day will be reserved for high-risk customers, including those 65 or older. All customers will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing.
No stores will accept returns, and store hours could be modified to allow for more deep cleaning more frequently.
Limited in-person sales began last week at 77 retailers in the 24 counties that moved to the yellow phase on May 8. Others had been reopened for curbside pick-up, and more than 100 were fulfilling online orders.
Across the state, Tito’s vodka has been the best seller among online consumers, according to data collected by the Liquor Control Board during the first six weeks of online sales, from April 1 to May 12.
The 1-liter bottles of vodka were far and away what most residents spent their drinking money on, with more than 6,716 bottles being sold.
In monetary terms, that’s about $174,549 worth of 1-liter bottles of Tito’s.
The smaller, 750-milliliter bottles of Tito’s were the next best seller with 2,906 bottles sold, or about $52,280 worth. About 2,821 bottles of Captain Morgan spiced rum worth $50,750 were sold during that time, along with 2,073 bottles of Jack Daniel’s Black Label worth $49,731.
Rounding out the top 10:
• Jameson Irish Whiskey: 2,030 bottles/$54,790
• Tanqueray London Dry Gin: 1,757 bottles/$43,907
• Maker’s Mark Straight Bourbon: 1,441 bottles/$38,893
• Bacardi Superior Rum: 1,386 bottles/$22,162
• Fireball Cinnamon Whisky: 1,316 bottles/$24,991
• Woodford Reserve Straight Bourbon: 1,289 bottles/$43,813