Municipal Liquor Store Profits Jump 29% in 2020, Robbinsdale Sees $74K Gain
A state audit released this week gives us a first look at how municipal liquor stores fared during the pandemic. For municipal liquor stores in Brooklyn Center and Robbinsdale, the results were mixed.
Municipal liquor store profits in Minnesota were up more than 29 percent in 2020. It marks the 25th consecutive year of record sales, with total sales increasing 10.3 percent over 2019.
In Robbinsdale, its municipal liquor store reported a net profit of $188,583, an increase of $74,000.
Brooklyn Center Liquor opened its new location on March 2, 2020
But for Brooklyn Center, its municipal liquor store was the only one in the metro to sustain a net loss last year.
The state report shows a net loss of $107,000, compared to a net profit of $154,000 in 2019.
State officials attribute the loss to the city moving its liquor store to a new building at Shingle Creek Crossing two weeks before the start of the pandemic.
“When you build a new store, a new building, your depreciation costs are very high, and depreciating expenses are part of the operating cost,” said John Jernberg, a research analyst specialist with the state auditor’s office. “As soon as a new building comes online, the depreciation schedule, your depreciation is going to be much higher at the beginning of that, and so that affected [Brooklyn Center’s] operation.”
State officials say this is the first time Brooklyn Center has reported a net loss with its liquor store operations.
