Mid-Michigan party stores sees liquor shortage due to supply chain issues

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - With the holidays fast approaching, the biggest drinking season is in full swing.

Before you mix your favorite holiday cocktail, you may have to settle for a few alternatives. The latest victim of supply chain issues is liquor.

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“If we don’t have it due to it being out of stock, try to get something that’s similar,” said Daniel Mitchell, a manager at Booze Barn in Lansing.

Mitchell said the liquor shortage is impacting stores across Mid-Michigan, including his own.

“You have shipping problems, you have glass shortages, you have the aging requirements that need to be met -- dealing with all of those things at once,” Mitchell said.

Aside from importing and bottling issues, multiple liquor stores are complaining about a lack of shipments in tequila -- which requires an aging process. It’s an issue many companies have fallen behind on and can’t do anything about.

“Once these companies get behind, stuff has to sit in barrels for X amount of time,” Mitchell said. “You can’t speed that up, unfortunately.”

He said aging has been a problem that stemmed back from the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

“It’s been going on for a good -- almost two years now,” Mitchell said. “Luckily, here we have a good group of customers that are understanding, know this is something a little bit out of our hands and we’re trying to do the best we can to make them happy at the end of the day.”

Mitchell said the good news is that most liquor stores should be able to provide some other options if your usual liquor is out of stock.

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