Liquor stores to close to walk-in’s under Holcomb’s new executive order

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A new wave of closures are on the horizon. Liquor stores across Indiana are supposed to shut their doors to in-person customers, starting at midnight Tuesday night.

Believe it or not, liquor stores in our area were actually succeeding and getting more business than ever because of the coronavirus.

However, now that they are being ordered to close to walk-in customers, liquor stores like Blarney Stone’s here in South Bend are being forced to adapt.

“There’s a lot of things to worry about,” Damien Bell, the store manager at Blarney Stone said.

Liquor stores in Indiana are now having to change up the way they sell alcohol after Governor Eric Holcomb announced Monday that starting at midnight Tuesday night, liquor stores are to close to walk-in business.

“Last night the owner of the company, Mr. Patel called the store and gave them a heads up about it last night,” Bell said.

And today, Bell is putting up signs around the store telling customers that they can still buy alcohol but it will look a little different come tomorrow.

“What they have to do is call any one of our several stores, tell us of their order and it’s a front door service,” he said. “So we will meet them at the door with their purchase, they pay at the door and we send them on.”

Bell tells ABC57 the virus was actually helping their business.

“We always have done good business but during this time, this virus has been affecting, a lot of places are closed as far as the bars, it has boosted liquor store sales. Not just in our company but pretty sure every company,” he said. “To go from that to locking our door is pretty hard.”

Now he’s left hoping that these changes won’t deter customers and affect their business.

Bell said he understands why Holcomb made this decision and is glad liquor stores weren’t ordered to close altogether.

We’re not sure when restaurants, bars and liquor stores will reopen, but stay updated with us as we learn more.