PLCB’s Biggest Store Opening In Shadyside Neighborhood

Locator map with the Shadyside neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania highlighted. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pennsylvania’s largest wine and spirits store, a 17,000-square-foot mega-outlet, will officially debut today in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood.

The renovated store, built around an existing state store at 5956 Penn Circle South, has been enlarged by about 35 percent, LCB officials said.

The larger, more upscale store is opening in an area experiencing residential, retail and restaurant growth for several years.

With that upswing continuing, LCB officials have pinned their hopes on history repeating itself with the renovated space. The agency has seen sales typically increase about 20 percent to 35 percent at revamped stores, in part because the layout and organization of products encourages shoppers to browse longer, according to officials.

Read more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/6642390-74/store-lcb-stores#ixzz3B2vjsvkw
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Liquor Privatization Faces Slower Senate

HARRISBURG – The confetti has been swept up and the empty champagne bottles cleared away.

The hubbub of news releases, tweets and Facebook postings trumpeting the pros and cons of Pennsylvania’s latest liquor privatization bill has culminated in its passage by the House.

In a nearly straight party-line vote last week, the Republican majority handed Gov. Tom Corbett a victory that he and his allies fought hard for, even though the bill differs radically from his original plan to auction off the 600 state liquor stores.

The compromise plan is designed to phase out the state-run stores county by county, as private operators – beer distributors only for the first year – and others buy at least 1,200 liquor and wine licenses.  It also would allow grocery stores to sell wine.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=463312

Pennsylvania’s State-Store System Touts Record Booze Sales

Image via Wikipedia

Looks like a bad economy is great for the booze biz.  The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced that last fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2011, ended with record-breaking profits.  Nearly two BILLION dollars worth of alcohol was sold at Pennsylvania’s state-run Wine and Spirits stores.

It was further reported that the state-store system made a profit of $496 million, which was dumped into Pennsylvania’s coffers.  The PLCB is trying to run the state liquor stores more like a business.  WOW, what an outside of the box concept!