I call them ‘bottle stores’, or ‘grog shops’. In Northland I’ve only heard them refered to as ‘off-licences’, mostly because they’re attatched to the side of the local pub.
I have three different bottle shops within about a ten minute walk of my flat though, so mostly we specify which shop we;re going to.
I don’t call them anything, because I don’t go in. But I do pass a lot of them, and I always think to myself - why are they so big? And so many of them! And so busy! And so expensive! Why is alcohol so darn popular?
So asks a sad lonely pathetic weird little man.
Wait a minute. State owned? So how does that work, are you saying that these off-licenses are a Government run operation?
That sounds weird.
I’m tee-total myself so I don’t really pay attention to these matters, but in the UK you can buy alcohol almost anywhere e.g the supermarket, local grocers, newsagents, some petrol stations (there are time restrictions - but I’ve never understood why?), is it the same in the US or does it differ from state to state
For us in the UK that is exactly what it means.
Ummmm…may be I don’t fully understand the connection then - your saying that local off-licenses in the UK (e.g. Threshers, Oddbins etc.) is Government owned? As far as I’m aware these are privately owned stores with a license to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises.
Earlier on in the thread people in the US were speaking about State run stores - making it sound like the Local government of that state owns those liquor stores.
I think I should start drinking the sober world is a mad place.
Shit shit shit.
I didn’t mean UK, I meant Sweden.
Bollocks.
Brit living in Sweden for too long has identity crisis shocker.
Ahhhhhhhh - now should I draw from your answer that you’ve been drinking…
so back to my earlier statement: “…that sounds weird!”
(Do the State sell cigarettes as well then?)
My job is so boring I wish I had been drinking.
(No they don’t sell tobacco products, but they do have a complete monopoly on medication, including non-prescription. Much like alcohol, I live within walking distance of three supermarkets, but to buy paracetemol I have to take a train ride)
In NYC, where booze and wine are sold in them (your beer, you get at the corner bodega), we usually call 'em “wine shops.”
That’s because a good 70-80% of the merchandise is wine and fortified wine.
So basically the Goverment makes a total profit out of liquor store sales - unlike the UK Goverment which only makes money from the VAT (tax - to non-UKers) on the bought goods. Do I have it in my thick head now?
That’s pretty much it.
Goddamnit that was hard work, but I got there in the end!
The state stores (that I am aquainted with in New Hampshire) work the same way, which is one of the reasons the politicos use for why the state doesn’t have any sales tax, they get their revenues elsewhere. Also the prices tend to be lower in the state run stores, which is why they cluster on the state borders so the happy residents of Massachussetts and Vermont can cross over and enjoy.
Sorry for the run-on nature (and general incoherence) of the above, I blew the whole preview thing.
Just the liquor store. Or, I’m gonna stop at the corner or something like that. How odd, all these names.
Manitoba, sale of liquor is a state monopoly. We call a liquor store an LC (liquor commission). Beer is sold out of hotels - we call 'em vendors. Wine was recently opened to private sales, so there are also wine stores. Very confusing.
the boooooooooza!
In South Carolina liquor stores are not allowed to put up signs proclaiming “Liquor Store”. They are marked on the exterior with red circles.
We call them “Red Dot” Stores.