The new Morris Liquor store is set to open this month and when it does, the capacity will nearly double. The new building will be 8,500 square feet compared to the previous building at 4,500 square feet. This will allow for a greater product selection and variety.
Liquor store manager Dean Mithun, stated that things are starting to happen as far as moving into the new building. On June 1, a large delivery of beer was be dropped off and housed in the 20’x40’ beer cooler which is actually a separate room with sliding doors. Just before that arrival, the cooler in the room will be started and Mithun will be learning how to maintain it. The cooler system will need to run several days before the beer is placed inside. The room will be kept cold and cases of warm beer can also be purchased from the floor or smaller lots of cold beer from the floor room coolers.
The seven full-time and part-time liquor store employees will then be slowly moving the shelved products from the old store to the new store. Mithun added that there may also be some sales reps who will help with the move. The new show floor features a 20 door cooler area compared to 18 doors in the previous building. Customers will notice that there is a lot more shelving in the new building.
Mithun has already mapped out where items will go on these shelves and in the coolers. As items are moved, they will have specific locations to fill the shelves. However, with the added shelving, new products will also be coming in. Mithun stated that the wine area will be much larger in order to make room for many new wines that people are requesting.
The liquor and beer capacity in the new store will double compared to the old store. There are some products that people have been asking for in these areas too, that will be added to the inventory. Mithun stated that they are open to product suggestions and will try to obtain it if possible.
Along the walls are outlets for 17 neon signs which will also go up through this process. These signs are donated by the liquor companies and will periodically change. Also behind the counter, the liquor store will have a selection of small bottles of liquor and THC products.
The liquor store is a municipal which means it is owned by the city. The former store was starting to need some repairs and was running out of room. After some research as to adding on or remodeling, it was found that building new would be just as cost effective. The site on Highway 28 was obtained and the building process began last fall.
The design for the building was by Ringdall out of Alexandria who also designed the previous liquor store. The contractor was Project One. The construction started last fall and continued through the winter. The building is now complete with only some dirt work remaining.
Mithun stated that there is not a specific date, as of yet, for the opening but customers can watch for a large banner to be put up in front when they are ready to open. There will then be a ribbon cutting some time after the opening and a grand opening at some point once everything is up and running.
He has been asked so many times about the opening, and it is finally here. Watch for the large banner announcing it and then come in to see what is inside.