Liquor: The real storm staple

Apparently, bread and milk are not the only items shoppers are desperate to ensure they do not go without during a blizzard.Local liquor stores reported a flurry of business Monday as people prepared to hunker down at home perhaps until Wednesday morning or beyond.”We have been busy all afternoon,” said Nick Patel of Newhall Liquors in Wyoma Square, who tended to customers during the telephone interview.”We are selling mostly beer,” Patel added, “the big ones, like the 18- and 24-packs.”At Brookside Liquors on Boston Street, an employee named Bob (he declined to give his last name) said sales on Monday were “more like (before) a holiday.””Anytime there’s a storm it’s busy,” he added.Patel was looking forward to his first pre-storm sales bump at Newhall Liquors. “I have worked here for six months. It is my first storm, I am so excited,” Patel said.While the stores reported selling mostly beer Monday, there were customers looking to ride out the storm with a Chardonnay or Merlot.”We’ve seen a large selection of boxed wine being purchased,” said Patrick Thomas of Lynnway Liquors.Patel also said he was selling a good amount of wine, with the Barefoot brand the choice for many of his customers. The liquor stores were hoping to close at their regular time Monday night, and most planned to remain closed today, except Newhall, where Patel said he was going to try to open. He wasn’t sure what time.Others said they might not be open until some time Wednesday.”I am not sure if we’ll be open on Wednesday,” Thomas, of Lynnway Liquors, said. “It depends on the storm.”Things were so busy at Blanchard’s Liquors in Revere, an employee who answered the phone said she couldn’t break away for an interview.”I am sorry, we are too busy right now,” said one of the employees there.