Drink up, Manchester, NH
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 8:47AM I like bourbon. And Scotch. And, well, most anything of quality in the whiskey family. But I have never, in my five plus years of patronizing New Hampshire state liquor stores, purchased what I have been informed is the best selling "spirit item" in all four Manchester, NH, liquor stores:
Yes, according to Tony Burns, Assistant Director for Store Operations for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, the number one selling spirit here in the Queen City is Captain Morgan, specifically a 1.75 liter bottle of said spiced run. I don't know what I would have imagined to be the best selling item, but it certainly was not that.
No matter which of the four area liquor stores at which we shop, we Mancunians also have similar wine tastes, with the best-selling wine at all four stores being a 750 milliliter bottle of Kendall Jackson chardonnay:
During the recently ended Fiscal Year 2010, the city's four state liquor stores (three in Manchester, NH, proper and one just over the Bedford line), had gross sales totaling $18,023,341, for a Manchester store average of $4,505,835.20.
This is more than three quarters of a million dollars less than the average state liquor store's gross sales of $5,292,867.17 last fiscal year.
Indeed, of the Manchester area stores, only the one at 5 Colby Court in Bedford, with gross sales last year of $6,942,905.38, exceeded the state average. Well below the state average was the liquor store in East Side Plaza, 885 Hanover St., which had sales of just $2,740,296.06. Here's the breakdown:
This, of course, begs the question: does the rest of the state really drink more than Manchester, NH? And if so, why?
What's your theory?
Reader Comments (8)
Could it be because there are so many other places in Manchester to get alcohol? A few years ago the Weed and Seed folks put together a map showing all the locations where alcohol was for sale. In my neighborhood between East Side Plaza and the Valley Street Plaza you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting at least four. In a rural or suburban area you'd have fewer options.
I agree with Kathy that there are a lot of places to buy alcohol.
I also wonder what the "store per capita" rate and "sales per capita" rate might be. We have five area stores. While that seems like a lot, I wonder if maybe one store that serves several smaller communities might end up selling more than ours that split their clientèle.
Also, a lot of the other stores are on the highway or near the border, where they can attract more tourists & Mass-folks.
I'd be interested in the units sold numbers. It could be that we're buying Old Crow when Bedford is buying Bookers.
I think the stores that are located along the highway must skew the state average thus making it difficult to compare the neighborhood liquor stores to the average. I know the folks from Maine stop at the traffic circle in Portsmouth to load up regularly. You have to admit $18 million is still a lot of booze for one town to consume. And it must be those darn college kids with their rum and coke driving up the sales of the Captain. I'm sure you'll find Hendricks gin near the very bottom of that sales list.
Kathy and Cyndy - I think y'all are on to something. I had forgotten about a post I wrote last summer noting that there are some 170 places in Manchester, NH, where one can buy alcoholic beverages.
And Robert, yes, I bet the stores on the highway do skew the statewide data, selling as they do to all those cheap booze hounds from Maine and Mass.
Speaking of Captain Morgan, I have this fear of Morgann her freshmen year of college, on top of some homemade beer pong table singing "Captain Morgan Song" and drinking it. Anyway. Got that fear off my chest. Phew.
A scary prospect, indeed, Abbey. Though let's hope that if Morgann does experiment with alcohol in college that she'll have better taste than Captain Morgan.
I was wondering if anyone knows a good website with nice shoes that you can order online. Thanks Oh i'm 14 so not really old shoes but like thongs, high heels, vans etc ucsmdj ucsmdj - Supra Shoes Vaider.