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Last call? Wake ABC stores shorten hours this month due to COVID staffing shortages

By Brian Murphy

Updated January 6, 2022 2:05 PM

Orange County ABC stores now have plexiglass shields on their registers to separate customers from store employees. Provided by Tony Dubois

If you want to buy alcohol in Wake County, you need to get to the county’s ABC stores a bit earlier this month.

Wake County ABC stores are closing at 7 p.m. — two hours earlier than normal — for, at least, the rest of January, citing staffing issues brought on by COVID. Wake County’s 26 ABC stores will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Typically the stores are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

File photo of a liquor store in North Carolina. TAKAAKI IWABU News & Observer file photo

‘A toll on our staff’

“Wake County ABC will not hide that COVID has recently hit us hard,” wrote Bryan Hicks, Wake County ABC general manger, in a Dec. 31 letter to customers. “It has taken a toll on our staff even though an overwhelming majority are vaccinated.”

Hicks wrote that “almost 10% of our work force” was adhering to COVID protocols at the time of his letter. He wrote that the time changes will “remain in effect at least until January 31.”

Hicks said the move “is because of staffing. It will allow Wake County ABC Stores to remain open by altering work shifts so that there is an adequate level of service for every location.”

He added, “closing any store is a last resort.”

North Carolina ABC stores sold more than $1.3 billion in spirituous liquor and fortified wines for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. Wake County stores accounted for gross sales of $167.8 million in fiscal year 2020, up more than 11% from the previous year.

Durham County ABC stores have not changed their hours, according to their website, and remain open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday except for certain holidays. Orange County ABC stores are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday as well.

Mecklenburg County ABC stores have also modified their hours, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday. The county’s 29 stores will open at 12:30 p.m. instead of 10 a.m., the paper reported.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.

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This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 11:59 AM.

‘A toll on our staff’

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