Mississippi alcohol community roiled by liquor, wine delay from state warehouse failure

Brandi Carter needs her wine.

As the owner of Levure Bottle Shop in Jackson, Mississippi, she sells natural wine delivered to her business by a state agency responsible for distributing alcoholic beverages to liquor stores, bars and restaurants. But delays caused by problems in a state warehouse have led Carter and many other retailers to see their inventory dwindle and their business drop as they wait for new shipments.

Carter, who also handles the beverage program for a restaurant in Jackson, said she has been dealing with delays since February, and she’s feeling helpless as traffic in her store goes down.

“I’ve just reached acceptance that this is our new normal, and it’s awful,” Carter said Wednesday.

The state is the only distributor of liquor in Mississippi

In Mississippi, the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control department — an arm of the Mississippi Department of Revenue — is responsible for distributing wine and liquor to businesses that sell it. That’s different than other states, where individual companies handle alcohol distribution, Carter said.

During the week ending April 12, there were more than 172,000 cases that were pending delivery, and it was taking an average of 17 days for businesses to receive their orders, according to the Mississippi Department of........

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