Philadelphians Prefer Their Booze Cheap
The PLCB releases statistical information detailing how the citizens of Pennsylvania choose to get drunk every year. They break the information down by sales numbers, type of booze, brand, location and day of the week. Unsurprisingly, state residents tend to buy the most alcohol on Friday. We took a look at the numbers and found 10 interesting things you definitely want to know about how Pennsylvanians—and more specifically, residents of the Philly area—went about getting drunk for the 2010-2011 retail year (July ’10-June ’11).
Pennsylvanians Love Whipped Cream Vodka. Last year Pennsylvanians purchased 502,268 bottles of Pinnacle Whipped Vodka. Woof.
Brand Loyalty. The five most popular items in Region 1 (Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties) during the last retail year were:
- Jacquin’s Vodka Royale 80 proof 375 mL
- Cavit Pinot Grigio 1.5 L
- Sutter Home Cal. White Zinfandel 1.5 L
- Jack Daniels Old No. 7 Black Label 750 mL
- Jacquin’s Vodka Royale 80 proof 1 L
Wine Is Popular in the Burbs. The Pennsylvania counties in which table wine scored the highest proportion of sales were Chester, Montgomery and Bucks. Wine accounted for 44 percent of sales in Chester County.
People In West Chester Like Expensive Booze. Of the 624 state stores, nine are licensees or fulfillment centers that deal with larger orders. Of the remaining 615, the store on Paoli Pike in West Chester has the highest average sale of $77.01. It also had the third highest total sales of any store in the state behind the licensee center in Philly on Washington Ave. and the state store in Franklin Mills.
Franklin Mills Is Busy. The state store in Franklin Mills is the busiest state store in the area and the second busiest in Pennsylvania. During the last retail year there were more than 301,000 transactions there.
People Still Buy Cheap. The only two items worth more than $30 to crack the Top 100 list were handles of Jack Daniels and Absolut. Meanwhile, 32 of the Top 100 items cost less than $10.
Yinz Don’t Drink as Much as Pittsburgh. The 2010 Census shows that there are 965,111 adults in Allegheny County. They spent $233,797,228 on liquor last year. In Philadelphia County there are 1,156,229 adults who spent a combined $211,970,557. Without taking into account that 18, 19, and 20-year-olds can’t purchase alcohol legally, that means that the average yinzer spent nearly $60 more on booze than the average Philly resident.
The Holidays Are Rough. Pennsylvanians spent nearly $2 million more in December than the month with the second most sales (November). Then, everyone hibernates to nurse the massive collective hangover. January sales were the lowest of the year.
People Still Buy Shitty Liquor. Pennsylvania’s Hierarchy of Shitty Liquor (units sold) looks like this:
- Jacquin’s – 4,244,996
- Nikolai – 2,229,781
- Banker’s Club – 1,644,383
- Vladimir – 1,169,276
- Burnett’s – 556,939
The Jameson Figures Seem Off. The PLCB reports that 520,341 units of Jameson were sold last year. It feels like they’re holding back because the Foobooz and Philly Post edit staffs alone probably account for a good 50 percent of those.
