PLCB Sales UP

The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board says overall sales are up but that is only half the story. Chairman P.J. Stapleton told the state house appropriations committee that at the mid point in the 2008-2009 fiscal year state store sales were $1.02 billion. PLCB Spokesperson Nick Hays says that is 4.3% more than the year prior. However that is slower than the 4.7% growth seen the year before and the 7% growth two years ago. Hays further broke down the numbers to show that all of the growth was in sales to individual customers. Those numbers were up 6% while sales to bars, restaurants and other resellers was down 1.3%. Hays says he does not have information on the number of gallons sold by the state. Hays says the LCB has theorized that people are doing more entertaining at home rather than going out or they are opting to purchase less expensive liquor when they are out on the town.