Yesterday the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board resumed limited sales from www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com, accepting a controlled number of orders per day with plans to increase order capacity as fulfillment capacity increases. Shortly after the site resumed service, a notice was posted on a website alerting customers that the online store was not available “Due to overwhelming demand.”
When it is up and running, customers will be limited to purchasing up to six bottles per transaction from a reduced catalog of about 1,000 top-selling wines and spirits. All orders must be shipped to home or non-store addresses, and only one order per address will be fulfilled per day.
“We understand the public wants to have access to wines and spirits during these unprecedented times, but we have a responsibility to mitigate community spread of this virus to every extent possible and make sure our employees and our customers are as safe as they can be,” said Board Chairman Tim Holden. “We believe that re-opening FineWineAndGoodSpirits.comOpens In A New Window in a controlled manner will allow us to provide access to consumers while also protecting our employees and consumers from unnecessary risk.”
In their announcement, the state said that access to www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com will be randomized to avoid overwhelming the site with high traffic, prevent order abuse and prolong access throughout the day, so that order availability isn’t exhausted in seconds or minutes each day.
Prior to posting the notice, the Control Board said “We expect consumer interest and site traffic to exceed what we’ll be able to fulfill, at least initially, so we ask that customers be patient and understand that the PLCB Is doing the best it can under extraordinary circumstances to balance consumer demand and public health,” said Holden.
The PLCB will be fulfilling orders from various facilities and is implementing public health best practices like facility sanitation, social distancing, and limiting the numbers of employees working in any facility at a time in an effort to protect its employees. As order fulfillment capacity increases, the PLCB will consider increasing the number of orders it takes each day.
The statement announcing the opening of the website stated that the PLCB is not considering reopening stores at this time, although the agency continues to monitor the situation in consultation with the Wolf Administration and public health officials, it’s unclear where they stand now.