A shop where alcohol is sold

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

What do you call a shop that sells alcohol?

 

[Rachel Adams]

Alcoholic drinks are sold in a wide range of shops in the UK.

what do you call them?

 

[Rover_KE]

What do you call them?

That was a careless mistake, Rachel.:-(

Wine shops, supermarkets, corner shops, off-licences, Thresher, Majestic Wines, Bargain Booze, Oddbins etc.

In the USA, they're called liquor stores.

 

[jutfrank]

If you mean shops whose main product is alcoholic drinks, they're called off licences in several countries.

 

[GoesStation]

In the USA, they're called liquor stores.

That depends on the state and the kind of alcohol they sell. Many states segregate the sale of spirits and less concentrated beverages. Stores that sell spirits are liquor or state stores here in Ohio, and some wine shops contain a state liquor agency in a separate section. Liquor is sold only in package stores in some states. You can buy beer and wine in many gas stations and convenience stores here; I think a few states still have a state monopoly on all alcoholic beverage sales.

California has permissive alcohol sales laws; drug stores and supermarkets sell all kinds of liquor, but specialty liquor and wine stores also exist.

When I lived in Ontario, Canada, you had to go to an LCBO store ("Liquor Control Board of Ontario") to buy beer, wine, and spirits — except for wines made by the small Ontario wine industry, which were available even on Sundays at special Wines of Ontario shops. That province has since relaxed its laws.

 

[SoothingDave]

I'd say "liquor store" would be understood throughout the US. Most people in Pennsylvania call them "state stores" because the state is the only seller of hard liquor by-the-bottle. They kept the monopoly on wine as well until recently when they allowed grocery stores to sell wine.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd say "liquor store" would be understood throughout the US.

As a place where you can buy spirits -- vodka, whisky, and the like -- yes. But not necessarily as a place where you can buy beer and wine. In Ohio, many beer and wine stores include liquor agencies, but most don't. I'm pretty sure people here don't think of beer and wine if you say you're going to the liquor store.

OP, alcohol laws are extremely complicated in the United States. All sorts of bizarre alcohol-related institutions exist or have existed. When I lived in Texas for one summer many years ago, I used to see ramshackle little bar-like establishments advertising "setups" or "set ups". They were arranged like bars, but they didn't sell alcohol. You'd bring your own bottle of booze; the bar would provide glasses, ice, and mixers like orange juice, the setups for mixed drinks. They were holdovers from a time when it wasn't legal to sell liquor by the glass but it was OK to bring a bottle of it into a bar. I don't know whether any of them are still around.

 

[Skrej]

In my state of Kansas, 'liquor stores' can sell the whole range of alcoholic beverages. Grocery stores and convenience stores here can currently only sell beer, although there's legislative moment to allow them to sell wine. I live only a few miles from the state line with Oklahoma, where grocery stores can sell wine as well, and also sell booze on Sundays, contrary to Kansas.

However, as other US members have said, this varies widely from state to state. I once stopped at a liquor store in Idaho to try and purchase a particular brand of beer I'd seen a character drinking in a tv show set in the region. Much to my surprise, I was told that they couldn't sell beer - only grocery stores could sell beer in that state. Massachusetts allows sales of wine, beer, and spirits in both grocery stores and liquor stores. Oklahoma allows beer and wine in grocery stores. Each state is different.

Even the name for the alcohol-only stores varies regionally across the US. As Dave mentioned, 'liquor store' would be understood probably anywhere in the US, although what you can buy in them will vary. In much of New England they're called 'package stores' (or at least in NY, MA, and CT).

Rhode Island also has state-owned liquor stores, although I can't recall if they had the same monopoly as Pennsylvania. Since the state owned them, they didn't charge sales tax, making them marginally cheaper than places where you had to pay the sales tax.

My favorite place I've seen beer sold was a place in southern Ohio called "Fast Fred's Seed and Feed". It was an actual barn, converted to a drive-through operation where they had coolers with beer, beverages, and other human food on the driver's side. On the passenger side were bales of hay, alfalfa, salt/mineral blocks, and bags of animal feed. I think they maybe even carried some other farming/ranching supplies such as crop seeds and fencing supplies.

Unfortunately I was in a rental car returning to the airport so I couldn't really purchase much, but I did stop for pictures and drive through to purchase a non-alcoholic beverage. :lol:

I really, really hope I can find those pictures again someday.

 

[GoesStation]

My favorite place I've seen beer sold was a place in southern Ohio called "Fast Fred's Seed and Feed". It was an actual barn, converted to a drive-through operation where they had coolers with beer, beverages, and other human food on the driver's side. On the passenger side were bales of hay, alfalfa, salt/mineral blocks, and bags of animal feed. I think they maybe even carried some other farming/ranching supplies such as crop seeds and fencing supplies.

Unfortunately I was in a rental car returning to the airport so I couldn't really purchase much, but I did stop for pictures and drive through to purchase a non-alcoholic beverage. :lol:

I really, really hope I can find those pictures again someday.

Looks like it's just an hour from my house and just a short detour on a drive to Columbus. I'll be sure to pay it a visit someday.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm always surprised when I go to other countries and realise how restricted alcohol sales are compared to the UK. As long as a shop here has an alcohol licence (and they're not hard to get as long as you're prepared to pay), it can sell any alcohol of any strength.

 

[Tarheel]

In North Carolina we have ABC stores (owned by the state). I don't think they have a monopoly of any kind.

You can buy beer almost anywhere--grocery stores, drugstores, convenience stores, gas stations. (I'm not supposed to drink anything alcoholic because of the medicine I take.)

I don't think the state should own stores that compete with private businesses.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do other stores sell hard liquor, or just the ABC?

 

[SoothingDave]

I'm always surprised when I go to other countries and realise how restricted alcohol sales are compared to the UK. As long as a shop here has an alcohol licence (and they're not hard to get as long as you're prepared to pay), it can sell any alcohol of any strength.

Pennsylvania is the most restrictive state, except for Utah (with the Mormon church there).

The only reason that (some) convenience stores and supermarkets can sell beer and wine in PA is because they maintain a separate legal business that operates a "restaurant" within the confines of the store. They must sell prepared food and have tables and chairs. You can only ring up your purchases at a designated register.

 

[Tarheel]

Do other stores sell hard liquor, or just the ABC?

I'm not certain, but I can check. (I only buy beer, and I don't get any of that very often.)

 

[Tarheel]

Do other stores sell hard liquor, or just the ABC?

The ABC stores have a monopoly on liquor sales.
:-|

 

[GoesStation]

The ABC stores have a monopoly on liquor sales.
:-|

The state of Ohio retains a monopoly on liquor (beverages containing more than 20% alcohol by volume) sales, but the state issues franchises. Franchise operators can have the liquor store in a separate area of another store. They have to comply with a long list of rules.

Beer and wine are sold by licensed businesses in precincts whose voters have allowed such businesses. Retailers have to mark up prices by at least 25% over wholesale, and distributors have to mark them up at least 50%.

 

[Skrej]

Looks like it's just an hour from my house and just a short detour on a drive to Columbus. I'll be sure to pay it a visit someday.

I suggest you try the alfalfa, if it's fresh.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In the US, it depends on the state you're in. In states where I've lived, they're variously called liquor stores, state stores, agency stores, and package stores — packies, for short. (In that context, it's not an ethnic slur.) Reading this thread, I just learned about ABC stores. Other states probably have other names.

In some states, you can buy booze at grocery stores, but in others, you can't. In some places, you can also buy bottled alcohol at vinyards, breweries, and distilleries. Some states allow bars to sell bottled alcohol-to-go over the counter. (Trivia: When I lived in Connecticut, if you wanted to buy a bottle of booze on Sunday, you could only do it at a vinyard. And that's a state not known for its superior vintages.)

In Louisiana there are roadside drive-up stands that let you drive away with big paper cups of booze. And you can buy a paper cup of booze at a bar, leave with the full cup, and walk into another bar with it. Civilized!

And on the other extreme, some places don't allow the sale of alcohol anywhere, ever.

So, as you can see, there's huge regional variation.