“Because of the economy, and because of the smoking ban, people have stayed home, but they are buying products to take home,” said Jacob Evans, vice president and general counsel for the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association.
Retail sales are carryout purchases only, while wholesale transactions involve licensed liquor stores selling spirits to businesses licensed to serve alcohol on-premise, said Matt Mullins, spokesman for liquor control.
Consumers in Clark and Champaign counties purchased about 444,400 bottles of liquor last year, up 8.5 percent from 409,500 in 2009 and up 13.8 percent from 390,500 in 2008, according to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control.
In this area, retail sales of these beverages exceeded $6.5 million in 2010, and increase from $6.07 million in 2009 and $5.8 million in 2008.
Statewide, retail sales of spirituous alcohol reached $520.6 million, or 34.7 million bottles, in 2010.
Spirituous alcohols contain an alcohol content of 22 percent or higher.
But as retail sales of spirits rose in the Miami Valley and Ohio, wholesale purchases trended downward.
Last year, the 49 licensed liquor stores in the five-county region sold 1.31 million bottles wholesale, rebounding slightly from 1.3 million bottles in 2009, but still down from 1.32 million in 2008 and 1.33 million in 2007.
Jack Simonton, co-owner of Keg’n Cork Beverage Center in Springfield, said his retail sales have increased every year in recent history. The smoking ban in licensed establishments and the price difference, along with DUI laws, have boosted his sales, he believes.
“DUI laws keep people off the streets. There’s a lot more safe partying going on,” he said.
Esther Kwon, equity analyst for Standard & Poor’s, said during a recession, people will often drink at home rather than at licensed establishments, where the markup is higher. She said people will also “trade down” and purchase lower-priced alcohol brands to conserve money.
But consumers do not typically cut alcohol out of their budgets.
“The alcoholic beverage industry is categorized under consumer staples, so generally they’re not as cyclical as some other consumer companies,” Kwon said. “The propensity to eliminate purchases of these products is very low.”
Industry analysts also said some people are willing to “splurge” on more pricey liquors because even the high-end products are typically less expensive than other high-end consumer goods.
“Customers buy Grey Goose faithfully,” Simonton said. “The sales are stronger than ever.”
Brands are also adding varieties to their products, whether it’s a flavored vodka or a higher-end option for whiskeys, and more options are bringing customers back to try something new, he said.
Tim McPeak, an analyst with Sageworks, a national technology and financial information company, said data gathered by his company show that overall sales of alcohol beverages continued to grow during the recession even when sales of most consumer goods sank.
The rate by which alcohol sales grew slowed during the recession compared to prior years, but sales still grew, McPeak said.
Nationally, beer, wine and spirits sales increased 6.24 percent in 2010, 4.78 percent in 2009 and 5.87 percent in 2008, according to data released by Sageworks.
By comparison, sales of discretionary items, such as furniture and jewelry, luggage and leather goods, dropped by between 3.8 to 9 percent in both 2008 and 2009, according to the company.
“Even in extremely difficult financial times, this seems to show that people continue to drink,” McPeak said. “Most people would think of alcohol as a discretionary item ... (but) maybe it is something they are not willing to give up in good times and bad times.” According to the U.S. Census, the five-county region is home to 981,908 people 21 and older. In 2010, local retail bottle sales were equal to 4.4 bottles of liquor per resident.
Staff writer Kelsey Cano contributed to this report.
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