The state's experiment in removing cheap, fortified wines from downtown Salt Lake liquor stores appears to have decreased consumption of alcohol among transients, officials say.
Bonner Ritchie, chairman of the Commission on Alcoholic Beverage Control, told fellow commission members that sales statistics and surveys reveal that consumption of 20 percent wines, which sell for under $2.50 per fifth, has followed the downward trend of liquor sales in general.That seems to indicate that when transient clients couldn't get strong wine at downtown stores, they started drinking less, he said Friday.
Ritchie said those results could provide ammunition for permanently removing the cheap wines from state liquor stores statewide.
"We haven't analyzed the figures by computer, so it will be next month before I'll be able to report final results," Ritchie said. "But it appears from what I've seen, overall consumption is down."
Liquor sales in general are down by 41,000 cases through April of this fiscal year as compared to last year. Gross profits are down $900,000 for the same period.