New Hampshire liquor sales hit a record $678.4 million in the year through June 30, which the state attributes to expanding and moving a number of state-owned stores.
The sales figure was $36.3 million higher than last year, an increase of 5.65 percent.
The state has 79 official New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets, including two in Concord, one each in Franklin and Pittsfield, plus a new one being built in Warner. It has 1,400 full- and part-time employees and an estimated 11 million annual customers.
Since 2012, the state Liquor Commission has moved or upgraded 24 outlets, including a new 9,000-square-foot store opened Tuesday in Plymouth. The upgrade at the Hooksett tolls on Interstate 93 as part of a revamp of the entire hospitality center was particularly notable.
Among upcoming construction is what officials say will be the largest liquor store in Northern New England, a 33,000-square-foot renovation in Nashua that is scheduled to open in August. It is expected to generate $21.5 million in annual sales.
Liquor profits transferred to the New Hampshire General Fund were also a record in the most recent fiscal year, reaching $155.6 million. Since the state’s first outlet opened in 1934, liquor and wine sales have generated more than $3 billion in revenue for the state.
Both spirits and wine sales grew last year.
Total spirits sales were about $384.3 million, an increase of 7.6 percent over the previous year, and total wine sales were about $292.4 million, an increase of 3.0 percent.
New this year, the Liquor Commission launched a fine wine tasting series aimed at introducing consumers to high-end wines, while raising funds for New Hampshire nonprofit organizations.
This year, the commission traveled to Kentucky and Tennessee to select 16 barrels of the renowned Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey and eight barrels of Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, to offer exclusively to New Hampshire customers.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313, or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
