MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Business is booming in 2020 for Montgomery County's 26 Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) consumer stores.
Information provided to WUSA9 reveals Montgomery County ABS stores sold $11 million more in liquor, wine and beer between March and November 2020 than during the same time period in 2019.
The sales figures show that liquor sales increased by just over $8 million, wine sales increased by more than $846,000 and beer sales increased by just over $743,000.
"It’s important to remember that retail sales comparisons from last year are not apples to apples," Emily DeTitta, marketing manager for Montgomery County ABS, said.
Beginning in March when restrictions began due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montgomery County's ABS stores reduced operating days and hours. The stores only opened six days a week as opposed to seven and the hours changed from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. to noon -7 p.m.
Several stores were forced to close temporarily due to positive coronavirus tests among employees. You can see the list HERE.
Additionally, the Cabin John ABS store location was closed from March 19 through June 22 because of a state mandate that closed all indoor malls.
The most recent ABS store opened in Poolesville in May of 2020, so there is no information comparing sales from the previous year.
Scroll down to see the top five most popular items sold at each Montgomery County ABS store or use our interactive map. The map includes sales figures for 2019 vs 2020.
The Clarksburg Village ABS store saw the largest sales increase of all the 26 locations. Sales grew 24.37% in Clarksburg versus the store with the second-highest growth in Potomac at 23.77%. The sales data provided to WUSA9 encompassed all sales between March and November of 2019 and 2020.
Montgomery County ABS is also the distributor of alcohol for Montgomery County's licensed businesses. Those sales figures are not factored into any of the information provided in this story.
The Montrose store location in Rockville posted the highest total sales with $8.5 million. The Westwood store in Bethesda had the second-highest sales total with just over $8 million.
Potomac had the highest increase in liquor sales (29.59%) over Clarksburg Village (25.41%) and Aspen Hill (19.3%)
The Cloverly store in Silver Spring saw the largest increase in wine sales (23.29%) followed by Aspen Hill and Potomac (both 16.83%)
Aspen Hill by far saw the largest increase in beer sales (46.86%) followed by Silver Spring (23.96%) and Potomac (23.14%)
Not factored into the sales figures is the 'Whiskey Rocks' event held in January by Montgomery County ABS at the Clarksburg Village location which saw people line up around the building in the cold to buy rare whiskey varieties.
RELATED: People are camping outside a liquor store in Clarksburg to be first in line to buy rare whiskey
You can read about the overall top 10 selling liquor, wine and beer products from 2019 in Montgomery County HERE.
"Due to a targeted marketing campaign and retail push over the last year, Maryland Made product sales in ABS stores have grown substantially," Detitta said.
Montgomery County ABS partnered with the Maryland Distillers Guild to promote Maryland spirits through the month of November 2020.
You can read about that on the Maryland Made and Keeping it Local pages.
That partnership and promotion saw a 288% increase in Maryland spirit sales over 2019, according to DeTitta.
Below are the top five selling items at each of Montgomery County's 26 consumer stores.
Aspen Hill
- Corona Extra 12 case bottles
- Heineken 12 case bottles
- Yuengling Lager 12 case bottles
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 1.75L
Burtonsville
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
Cabin John
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Kendall Jackson RS Chardonnay 750ML
Clarksburg Village
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Corona Extra 12Case Bottles
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Heineken 12 case bottles
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 1.75L
Cloverly
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
- Kendall Jackson RS Chardonnay 750ML
Darnestown
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Hennessy VS 750ML
Downtown Rockville
- Corona Extra 12 case bottles
- Heineken 12 case bottles
- Yuengling Lager 12 case bottles
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 1.75L
Fallsgrove
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Kendall Jackson RS Chardonnay 750ML
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
Flower Ave.
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman Vodka 1.75L
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
- Kendall Jackson RS Chardonnay 750ML
Goshen Crossing
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
Hampden Lane
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1L
Kensington
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1L
- Apothic California Red Blend 750ML
King Farm
- Corona Extra 12 case bottles
- Yuengling Lager 12 case bottles
- Heineken 12 case bottles
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 1.75L
Kingsview
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
Leisure World
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
Montrose
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
- Svedka Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Vodka 1L
Muddy Branch
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
- Kendall Jackson RS Chardonnay 750ML
- Apothic California Red Blend 750ML
Olney
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
Poolesville
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 1.75L
- Burnette’s Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Skyy Vodka 1.75L
- Bacardi White Rum 1.75L
Potomac
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
Seneca Meadows
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Corona Extra 12 case bottles
- Apothic California Red Blend 750ML
- Sutter Home Chardonnay 187ML
Silver Spring
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
Walnut Hill
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- La Marca Prosecco 750ML
Westwood
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
Wheaton
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
White Oak
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 1.75L
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka 750ML
- Hennessy VS 750ML
- Smirnoff Vodka 80 375ML
- Bowman’s Vodka 1.75L
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