Liquor sales up during recession

Photo Credit : Nancy Kuehn | Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

Retail sales may be way down, there is one category that's up: booze.


The Business Journal reports that sales at liquor stores were up last year. Alcohol (and super-premium ice cream, I suppose) is an affordable luxury that people turn to when they're priced out of other items. You may have cancelled the trip to the Bahamas or put off upgrating the Beemer, but you might still treat yourself to a great bottle of bubbly. The Journal says restaurant liquor sales were up 1.4 percent in 2008 and predicts 2 percent growth for next year. (This should give Barrio and its 100+ tequila list some confidence for expansion.) Hopefully the increase isn't due to too much depression-induced drinking...