Comment on Coronavirus: Great for liquor sales, not so great for wineries and breweries

For one day — make that one afternoon — in March during the coronavirus shutdown, alcohol sales spiked across Denver. Argonaut Wine & Liquor on East Colfax reported a 300% increase in bottles going out the door on March 23, while the River North winery Infinite Monkey Theorem made $1,200 on wine alone in just an hour. Before Denver Mayor Michael Hancock reversed a March 23 order that would have closed liquor stores alongside non-essential businesses for the duration of the shutdown, drinkers indiscriminately raced to stock up on any and all booze, thinking they wouldn’t be able to buy their favorite beverages for a while. A local entrepreneur capitalized on the rush after the fact: “I survived the Denver Prohibition, March 23, 2020, 3 p.m.-5 p.m” reads a T-shirt for sale (with 150 reviews) from independent online retailer Redbubble. “If Mayor Hancock could do that every couple of weeks… that would be great for sales,” joked Tim Myers, who re-stocked his canned beer fridge at Strange Craft Beer Company three times that day. Aside from mass panic, there was one other downside. “The challenge to having a big sales day like that,” Myers said, “the next five days, sales were really light because everybody had their beer already.” While March 23 was a boon for most alcohol retailers in Denver, the rest of the month and the shutdown as a whole have created mixed results, owners say, with many independent producers still struggling to survive. Small and large liquor stores in Colorado have fared best of all, seeing a steady uptick in alcohol sales, maybe 12% to 18% on average, estimates Jeanne McEvoy with the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, which represents around 1,600 liquor stores around the state. Colorado is not alone.