State stores set clearance sale

Beginning March 1, about 400 liquor and wine labels will go on clearance sale at state stores.

The sell-off, known as delisting, is designed to get rid of unpopular items, so state stores can fill their shelves with other types of liquor, according to Liquor Control Board spokeswoman Stacey Witalec.

“There are a number, for example, of vodkas that have a flavor like raspberry. We don’t necessarily need about five different companies selling the same thing if one of theirs isn’t moving,” she said. “So what we’ll do is we’ll delist the one that isn’t moving with consumers, and we’ll list another product that the company brings forward to us in that place.”

Witalec, who said the LCB does this every two years, said the move has nothing to do with Republican lawmakers’ plans to try privatizing state stores.

Most of the delisted items are wines, and others are cheaper and smaller-sized bottles of liquor. About 12 percent of the spirits sold in state stores are getting the hook. The new items will begin showing up on the shelves later this year.