HARRISBURG, Pa. — While many thirsty Pennsylvanians continue to wonder if they'll ever be able to access the Fine Wine and Good Spirits website to buy liquor, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board issued a press release Thursday noting its efforts to meet the skyrocketing demand during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The PLCB's release said the agency is now fulfilling online orders from 49 facilities across the state and has "significantly increased" the number of orders it is accepting daily at FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com.
“After ramping up 46 additional Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores and licensee service centers in the last few days and aiming to have 121 fulfillment centers picking and packing e-commerce orders this weekend, we’ve made significant progress in improving service to Pennsylvania consumers seeking access to wines and spirits,” said Board Chairman Tim Holden in the release. “Today, we’re accepting 6,500 orders through our website, an 850 percent increase since April 1, when limited e-commerce sales resumed, and a 261 percent increase over the 1,800 orders we had been consistently accepting each day for a number of days.”
As order fulfillment capacity increases, the PLCB said it will continue increasing the number of orders it takes each day, expecting to be able to accept 10,000 or more orders daily in coming days.
Daily sales since FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com resumed limited operations April 1 through Wednesday, April 15, are detailed below.
For context, e-commerce sales in all of fiscal year 2018-19 totaled about 39,000 orders and $5 million dollars.
The PLCB expects e-comm sales to exceed those annual records as early as next week, just considering sales since April 1.
Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores across Pennsylvania remain closed by Gov. Tom Wolf's order, which mandated all non-essential business shutter their physical locations.
The PLCB said it is using limited staff -- a combination of PLCB employees and contractors -- to process online orders from FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com.
On April 1, when Wolf allowed the PLCB to resume online sales, there were three fulfillment centers to support online orders statewide, the PLCB said.
A total of 46 additional facilities have been brought into operation since then, according to the PLCB. And on Friday, 26 more facilities will be added, with the balance of 121 total locations expected to be operational by the weekend.
The 121 facilities are located in the following counties, according to the PLCB:
- Adams: 1
- Allegheny: 18
- Berks: 2
- Blair: 1
- Bucks: 9
- Butler: 1
- Centre: 2
- Chester: 10
- Clearfield: 1
- Crawford: 1
- Cumberland: 4
- Dauphin: 4
- Delaware: 10
- Erie: 1
- Franklin: 1
- Indiana: 1
- Lackawanna: 1
- Lancaster: 4
- Lehigh: 4
- Luzerne: 1
- Lycoming: 1
- Monroe: 2
- Montgomery: 17
- Northampton: 3
- Philadephia: 11
- Union: 1
- Washington: 1
- Wayne: 3
- Westmoreland: 3
- York: 4
Access to www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com continues to be randomized to avoid overwhelming the site with high traffic, prevent order abuse, and prolong access throughout the day so that order availability isn’t exhausted in seconds or minutes each day, the PLCB said.
“While consumer interest and site traffic continue to outpace our ability to process orders, we ask consumers’ patience as we explore options to serve our customers while honoring public health guidance during this unprecedented disruption,” said Holden. “We believe that continuing to expand access to FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com in a controlled manner will allow us to provide access to consumers while also protecting our employees and consumers from unnecessary risk, but we acknowledge our website can’t handle the daily volume our network of nearly 600 stores supported.”
Orders at FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com are limited to up to six bottles per transaction from a reduced catalogue of top-selling wines and spirits. All orders must be shipped to home or non-store addresses, and only one order per address will be fulfilled per day.
The PLCB said all fulfillment facilities are implementing public health best practices to protect employees, including enhanced facility sanitation, social distancing protocols, and limiting the numbers of employees working in any facility at a time.
The PLCB said it is not considering reopening stores at this time, although the agency continues to monitor the situation in consultation with the Wolf Administration and public health officials.
Pennsylvanians are also reminded of the following places and means for obtaining alcohol during the current public health crisis:
- Nearly 1,000 licensed producers in Pennsylvania – including breweries, wineries, and distilleries – may still sell their own products for off-premises consumption.
- Restaurant and eating place licensees (bars, taverns, bottle shops, pizza/sub shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.) can sell beer to go, up to 192 ounces (generally two six packs) per transaction.
- Restaurant licensees that also have wine expanded permits – including grocery stores and convenience stores – may also sell up to three liters of wine to go, per transaction.
- Beer distributors in Pennsylvania may continue sales for off-premises consumption.
- Residents remain able to purchase wine from more than 1,200 licensed direct wine shippers.
Consumers are reminded that the sale of alcoholic beverages without a license is strictly prohibited under Pennsylvania law, according to the PLCB.