Greene County liquor sales net $2.4 million in 2014-15
Greene County liquor sales netted $2.4 million during the 2014-15 fiscal year, according to a report recently released by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board; and while that figure may seem high to some, the report shows that Greene County ranked surprisingly low compared to the rest of the state.
The PLCB’s annual retail report details county liquor sales figures, and according to the report Greene County’s total figures ranked 60th in the state, accounting for just 0.12 percent of total statewide sales.
Allegheny led the way with $282 million (13.7 percent); Washington came in at 20th with $30.9 million (1.5 percent), followed by Beaver at 22nd with $20.2 million (0.98 percent), Fayette at 31st with $11.5 million (0.56 percent) and Lawrence at 34th with $8.6 million (0.42 percent).
Three regional counties made the Top 20 for biggest leap in sales from the previous fiscal year. Beaver was ninth with a 6.2 percent increase from 2013-14 while Greene was 13th with a 5.87 percent increase and Lawrence was 16th with a 5.3 percent increase.
When it came to sales figures by store, the Waynesburg liquor store ranked 470th out of 619 stores with $1.61 million. The highest-ranked Fayette County location was the Uniontown store in Fayette Plaza Shopping Center, which was 201st with $3.66 million in sales.
In Allegheny County, the Sewickley store ranked 100th with $5.85 million and the Moon Township store was 147th with $4.6 million in sales.
The highest-ranked Beaver County store was the one in Chippewa Township, which was 205th with $3.64 million, but the Center Township store was not far behind, coming in at 206th with $3.63 million in sales.
In Lawrence County, the Ellwood City store was 429th with $1.88 million in sales.
The PLCB report provided some other interesting information regarding liquor sales in Pennsylvania during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
During the time frame, the PLCB reported $2.2 billion in sales revenue. Most “fine wine and good spirits” sales were made at 10 a.m. Saturday, the report stated.
Southwestern Pennsylvania drinkers mostly bought five-liter box wine and unflavored vodka in 2014-15, but there were some who preferred chardonnay, cabernet and Canadian whiskey.
According to the report, box wine was the most popular choice in the wine category for Beaver County ($695,000 spent), Fayette County ($327,600), Lawrence County ($249,000) and Greene County ($60,000).
Washington County, though, preferred domestic cabernet ($1 million) while Allegheny County stores sold nearly $10 million worth of domestic chardonnay.
Unflavored vodka proved the most popular spirit in southwestern Pennsylvania counties except for Greene, where stores sold more Canadian whiskey.
Another fact provided by the PLCB was that its stores sold enough Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey in 2014-15 to put a bottle in every seat in Pennsylvania’s six major professional sports stadiums four times over.