Construction Begins For Paynesville's New Liquor Store

PAYNESVILLE (WJON News) -- A city-owned Central Minnesota business is getting a new home. The Paynesville Municipal Liquor Store has started construction on a new building next to Kwik Trip.

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Paul Habstritt, WJON

Is the Liquor Store Profitable and How Big will the New Location Be?

The city currently rents the existing store location at 970 Diekmann Dr. Paynesville will own the new building, which will be about three times larger at 7,000 square feet. Paynesville Economic Development Director Tariq Al-Rifai says the store has been very profitable for the city, and having the larger building will only make it more beneficial:

"It's hard for us to be able to generate more revenues in the the tight space we have yet we still see expenses such as product costs, and employee costs ecetera go up so over time our profits are going to start going down so before we get to that point what we're looking to do is build a liquor store that we can serve the broader community, and of course offer a wider range of product."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Al-Rifai says the new space will let them do a lot more than just carry additional products:

"We'll be able to do events in store, tastings in store, we're going to have a tasting area, a tasting station, where it depends on the day of the week where we can offer different things, different tastings so people can try the product before they buy it and this is something pretty exciting."

He says there is no cost to the community for the new store as the profits from the business will pay for the bond.

Al-Rifai says it will take a couple of years before they see the profits tick up, but once that happens, they are excited about what the increased revenue will mean for the community. The new location is scheduled to be open by November.