TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — The hottest new attraction at state-run liquor store is cold beer.
The opening of the new Taylorsville liquor store near 4500 South and 2700 West featured a first — coolers where cold beer is sold.
Cold beer was never forbidden by state law. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the agency that controls the sale and supply of all alcohol in the state, never implemented it because of policy or budgetary reasons. That has now changed under newly-appointed DABC Executive Director Tiffany Clason.
"Week on week, our number one customer service complaint is the lack of cold beer and other limited cold beverages at our stores," she said in an interview with FOX 13. "So as I on-boarded, we started talking with the team, it just made sense to find a way to provide this service and help elevate our customer service and shopping experience."
The new Taylorsville liquor store opened and customers made a beeline for the beer coolers. It’s A THING. @fox13 #utpol #Utah pic.twitter.com/WDVwNchyI3
— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) June 8, 2021
This will be the new normal for state-run liquor stores going forward. It is too expensive to retrofit all of the state's liquor stores (and it will be cold beer-only for now, but some state liquor stores offer wine chilling service). While it's a first for the DABC itself, companies that operate "package stores" under a contract with the state have been known to cool beer or sell mixers and liquor accessories.
The Taylorsville store opened to customers making a beeline for the beer coolers. But the DABC is not done yet. Behind one of the coolers inside the new Taylorsville store is a piece of sheet rock that covers what will eventually become a walk-in "beer cave."
