Mississippi liquor crisis threatens small businesses

Residents of Mississippi are facing a dry summer as liquor stores run out of stock, as the state’s only alcohol warehouse in Gluckstadt, Jackson, struggles with operations.

What happened
Mississippi is one of the 17 states in the country where the government manages liquor distribution. Its warehouse—run by the third-party Ruan Transport Corporation—closed for two weeks in January for inventory checks.

The company also decided to implement a new packing system that needed a different computer setup. However, the tech installation proved incompatible with the 43-year-old, 211,000-square-foot facility’s old conveyor belts.

The move paralyzed operations and created 200,000 backorders that needed to be processed. Roughly 1,200 staple products are out of stock, and 174,000 cases sit stranded in the warehouse.

At Arrow Wine and Spirits in Clinton, Mississippi, daily sales have plummeted from 300 to 400 customers to just 34, forcing the manager to take a second job to cover the monthly overhead. At least five liquor shops have already closed.

Lawmakers have proposed building a new warehouse by 2027, but business owners argue they cannot survive the years-long wait.