Retailers across Mississippi who sell liquor and wine are grappling with significant delays in deliveries to their businesses, stemming from persistent issues at a state-operated warehouse. This backlog has left many shop owners with dwindling inventories and declining customer traffic, as they wait weeks for shipments that once arrived in days.
State Distribution System Under Strain
In Mississippi, the Alcoholic Beverage Control department, an arm of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, holds exclusive responsibility for distributing wine and liquor to businesses that sell these products. This centralised system differs from many other states where private companies handle alcohol distribution, creating a unique bottleneck when problems arise.
Brandi Carter, owner of Levure Bottle Shop in Jackson, exemplifies the frustration felt by retailers. She relies on the state agency for natural wine deliveries to supply her shop and a restaurant's beverage program. Carter has been contending with delays since February, watching helplessly as store traffic diminishes.
“I’ve just reached acceptance that this is our new normal, and it’s awful,” Carter remarked recently, highlighting the prolonged wait times that have stretched to four or five weeks, compared to the previous norm of a few days to two weeks.
Warehouse Transition Causes Major Disruptions
The root of the delays lies in the state's ageing warehouse infrastructure. In January, the facility transitioned away from an obsolete conveyor belt system to a pallet-based method for moving cases. This shift, coupled with technical glitches in a new warehouse management system, triggered widespread shipping backlogs.
Carter explained the initial chaos: “The computer program that they implemented for the warehouse wasn’t working effectively with the ordering side. So the first big chunk was the biggest problem, because things were being marked as shipped, but they weren’t shipped.”
Official data from the Mississippi Department of Revenue reveals the scale of the issue. For the week ending April 12, over 172,000 cases were pending delivery, with businesses waiting an average of 17 days for orders. While this marks an improvement from the peak in early March—when more than 220,000 cases were backlogged and wait times averaged 25 days—it remains far worse than the 51,000 pending cases and three-day wait time recorded in mid-January.
Retailers and Customers Bear the Brunt
The backlog has forced retailers to adapt under severe constraints. Josh Sorrell, owner of Spillway Wine and Spirits in Brandon, reported that his daily order capacity has plummeted from 600 cases to just 100. Approximately 30% to 40% of his usual inventory items are unavailable, threatening his business viability, especially during the crucial holiday sales period from October to December.
“As it gets busier, we’re gonna crumble,” Sorrell warned. “I mean, it’s going to be really hard at 100 cases a day to stock up for a full October, November, December.”
Sorrell has even appealed to Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves to declare a state of emergency, advocating for a return to the conveyor belt system as a potential fix.
Customers, too, are feeling the pinch. Many are visiting multiple stores in search of specific bottles, often leaving empty-handed. Lauren Roberts experienced this firsthand when she visited Sorrell's store seeking Soda Jerk's orange cream shots, only to find them out of stock. She settled for an alternative drink for a family celebration, noting the personal inconvenience.
Legislative and Infrastructure Responses
In response to the crisis, Mississippi lawmakers debated a temporary measure that would have allowed out-of-state distributors to sell and ship alcohol directly to retailers, with the provision repealing after two years. However, this proposal did not pass before the legislative session concluded.
Looking ahead, the revenue department has announced that a new warehouse, scheduled for completion by the end of this year, will more than double the storage and shipping capacity of the current facility. The department asserts that technical issues have now been resolved and the warehouse is operating at full capacity, with pending orders being shipped as retail ordering stabilises.
“While capacity at the existing facility has been a challenge for well over five years, there is not an alcohol shortage,” the department stated. “As retail ordering stabilizes, we anticipate shipments returning to normal volume within the coming weeks.”
Despite these assurances, retailers like Carter and Sorrell remain sceptical, fearing that the backlog's impact could linger, affecting sales and customer loyalty well into the future. The situation underscores the vulnerabilities of Mississippi's centralised alcohol distribution model and the urgent need for reliable infrastructure to support local businesses.
