In most places without silly laws (looking at you, Pennsylvania), I'll bet that the big megastores like Total Wine and Bevmo (they were still in CA when we moved 9 years ago) have taken over. Sure, only in more metropolitan areas. But the little corner liquor stores were always the target of robberies, and other problems as well. Not a growth business.

I'm sure you're right, but it's sad. There's a BevMo nearish to me. Their listings say they don't have it. It was Total Wine, a few cities over, which had it. I'd never even heard of the place before. There's an independent high volume alcohol shop nearish to me, which probably had it, but the people there are unpleasant and the parking is nightmareish. Not having to go there was worth the fees. But I miss the liquor stores which were community anchors.

We have a couple small liquor stores close by, along with Total Wine and BevMo. IDK, both small stores have been around forever and seem to do fine. There’s also a fairly new specialty wine shop we’ve checked out a few times, but we were always the only customers there.

Oh darn. That's sad. Where I live, there are several liquor stores relatively nearby. Not only do they all have everything you could possibly want booze wise, one has a gift store section with really funny gift cards, and such. In my state, Oregon, there is no sales tax, so liquor is very expensive, due to the state tax. As such, Im happy to pay it. Marijuana is also legal, and taxed heavily, which I consider a good thing.

My state always has had state owned liquor stores which were the only places to buy hard liquor. They were fully stocked with a great selection; I can't recall for sure, but they might have been closed on Sundays. They also sold beer and wine, but you could buy beer and wine at grocery stores. Several years ago, the liquor stores closed and grocery stores started selling spirits, too. Never as good a selection, always kept locked up to prevent theft, so not as convenient. We have one liquor store in town with a decent selection, and a Total Wine, but I've never shopped there so not sure what they carry. Never have heard of Bevmo. I try to avoid big box stores if possible. I do buy rum for Mojitos in the summer at Costco and have bought some whiskey at Trader Joes for hot winter drinks. But mostly we drink wine.

Plenty of small liquor stores and a couple Total Wine stores where I live. 🤗It’s Wisconsin!

”Liquor store” here means a place that sells wine and liquor. No beer, hard seltzer, etc., which you get pretty much anywhere else.

I went to Total Wine a month or so ago. OMG! That's a bit of a hike though. We have a chain - or maybe not - of discount stores. They have variations of the same name, same font, and sometimes market together, but claim to be independent. Who knows. But in general, plenty of independent liquor stores, there's little I can't find somewhere. Here's a glance at about a two mile radius:

Googled and found Sabra 3.8 miles away; might be some closer but that’s the first one that showed up. Never heard of it!

We still have smaller liquor stores positioned between the Total Wine locations. It is rare that I have to shop at one though. Total Wine has absolutely everything and Costco has interesting options as well. The last time I went into a small liquor store was to pick up some Everclear for the next batch of limoncello, it was basically next door to Publix.

I remember how shocked I was when I moved from NY to FL and was able to buy liquor on a Sunday. I was also shocked when I took up cave diving in North FL and I found out the county where DH was living was a dry county. That has recently changed but you had to bring your own booze to Suwannee county for a long long time. LOL

Try Beverage Warehouse,

4935 McConnell Ave Suite 21, Los Angeles, CA 90066

This is where we always went, and they have a very good selection and very good prices, plus they will deliver.

Thanks, Lars.

Oly, that was approx 2011 when the state ended the monopoly on distilled spirits, privatized the industry. I'm inconvenienced with the way any of the bottles of any value are in locked cases and I have to buzz for store staff to come with a key. But you know what, Safeway here has done the same with the ice cream. Ice cream! I asked my checker one day what that was about (my cart was minus the container of ice cream on my list, I was not standing and waiting for someone to be free to open those freezer shelves for me) and she said it is their second highest shoplifting loss next to hard liquor.

I expressed my surprise and said I would have guessed beef and meat. She responded you have to have a means to cook beef and anyone anyplace can scoop out ice cream for fat and calories - kitchen with a stove or not.

We are minus a good wine shop here. I know there is one in Olympia but our shopping days are pretty full - I don't get there even though I sometimes need advice. Many, many choices in our grocery stores which isn't helpful when I don't always know which to buy. I have a Costco red and a Costco white that I buy to cook with. They taste fine to me but I'm hardly a wine connoisseur, Would I offer them to a guest in a glass...probably not.

@morz8 - Washington Coast The Wine Loft next to the fish market where I know you shop is a great place to find wine. No extra stops needed! I also like the selection at Oly Wines by the Tumwater Safeway. The owner is extremely knowledgeable and helpful, but is SO full of info he's eager to share that I find I avoid going there because it's almost impossible to pop in and out quickly. I almost get an anxiety attack anticipating getting trapped in a conversation about some obscure wine facts/regions, etc. when I just want a nice bottle of wine for dinner, lol.

Olychick, I, of course, don't know your wine guy, but I know the type. It might work to breeze in saying, “Hi-so-good-to-see-you-I-have-no-time-to-chat-but-need-a-nice-bottle-of-wine-for-dinner-do-you-have-a-good-one-that-doesn't[look at watch]-have-a-story?

Lol, @plllog. I am a champ at that sort of thing but he is kind of unstoppable. He's just brimming with knowledge, which is admirable and it just spills out of him. If I know exactly what I want it's easier, but if I want a recommendation or to try something new, I'm sunk. It's too bad, because I'd like to support his nice little shop, but I find I avoid it because it's too exhausting.

Ah. Olychick, I totally get it.

I have my own classification for wines:

• really good and worth the money
• really good for the (no so much) money
• good enough to make reduction without regretting the money
• pleasing and relatively cheap
• sufficiently palatable for general, non-reduced cooking and really cheap
• too bad even for turkey baste

ETA: forgot one:

• Regardless of price (though often ridiculously high), so tannic you have to burn your tastebuds to really enjoy, rather than just fooling yourself that if it costs four times as much it must be better.

Most of the independent liquor stores around here have closed in recent years. They can't compete with the chain liquor stores attached to grocery stores. All convenience stores sell a small selection of beer and liquor but not much else. The first Total Wine stores in the metro opened in the last 2-3 years but I haven't been yet.

the little Liqore store is very iffy whether or not something you want is on the shelf. Even the big ones are iffy if they have what you want. even the Total Wine can be iffy. I'm like you, i only cook with something like you said, and what I have is very old now to cook with.

I have some of those old fashioned liquor stores in a short distance, but these places are now a bit sketchy, due to being in an urban center. The BevMos and Total WInes are distributed throughout the area, and there are a few decent specialty shops around. Also, some of the specialty grocery stores also stock a good selection, especially in smaller sizes -- once found some kirchwasser at the specialty grocery in a small bottle (but not at Bevo) that was perfect, since you only use a few tablespoons at a time for recipes.

Price is also a consideration, unless you hate big box stores. We found that a bottle of Tanquerey gin that's $48 at the PA state store is $37 at Total Wine, 45 minutes away in Delaware. (Oh, and no sales tax, either.)

That's because pretty much every gas station around here nowadays has carries liquor -- hard and soft. How can a traditional liquor store compete with the convenience of a bottle booze available at every intersection?