Early in the pandemic, without on-site consumption of adult beverages at bars and restaurants, many Americans turned to their neighborhood convenience stores for wine, beer, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails and hard seltzers.

At Rutter’s, which operates 82 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, adult beverage sales “reached volumes we certainly never even imagined,” said Sean Pfeiff, senior category manager at Rutter’s.

“We will probably never again reach the 2020 and early 2021 numbers, but our adult beverage sales are still very, very strong and continue to grow exponentially,” Pfeiff noted. “With our strategic initiative of assortment, presentation and pricing, we have managed to build some loyalties.”

Rutter’s has and is continuing to make substantial investments in growing this category in its stores. In early 2021, the company began installing open-air wine coolers in new store builds and remodels to sell chilled bottles.

The company has also been adding beer caves where they did not exist before as it remodels stores.

“To date, we have added beer caves in seven stores,” he said. “By the end of 2022 we plan to add another six.” 

Presentation of product in the beer cave has been enhanced with the installation of gravity glide shelving, which automatically pushes new product forward when the item in front is removed.

Pfeiff also pointed out that Rutter’s stores have some of the largest beer caves in the country, allowing for sufficient in-stocks and a wider assortment of beers. While sales of premium brands such as Coors Light and Miller Lite have shown the greatest growth, craft beers have been the category’s “sleeper,” increasing by about 19% over last year.

In terms of percentage growth, wine is the winner at Rutter’s, he explained. In terms of sales dollars, beer has come out on top.

In all the stores that sell beer — 55% to date — Rutter’s offers spiked slushies.

“We’ve blazed the trail with those,” he said.

Also popular at Rutter’s are flavored malt beverages (FMBs). Over the past year, Pfeiff stated, sales in this sub-category have risen 20%. 

The hard seltzer craze seems to have cooled off somewhat in the stores. However, he said, “they have definitely earned their position in our sets.”

Although Rutter’s can only sell RTD cocktails in some of its stores due to state laws, Pfeiff believes that as more beer drinkers migrate to this segment, the potential could be substantial. 

“If they can get even a sliver of the beer business, that would be huge,” he said.

According to NielsenIQ’s total U.S. convenience store data for the 52 weeks ending June 18, 2022, RTD cocktail sales soared 78.4% to close to $180 million. Wine, beer and hard seltzer were flat or slightly down, but still contributed close to $1.5 billion, $19 billion and $1.7 billion respectively.

Like Rutter’s, QuikTrip stores saw a shift to larger packages and increased basket rings in the adult beverage category during the pandemic restaurant and bar shutdown, said Aisha Jefferson-Smith, corporate communications manager for QuikTrip, which operates 950 stores in 16 states. 

“All sub-categories showed growth, but out-of-stocks limited some of the growth potential,” she said. “If we could get it in stock it sold.” 

Since on-premise establishments have come back online, the growth in this category has begun to stabilize, though RTD cocktails, hard seltzer and imported beer have continued to increase in sales over the past year, she added. 

“Innovation, adventurous flavors and better-for-you options will continue to provide growth opportunities,” said Jefferson-Smith. “We expect wines and spirit-based seltzers to perform well.”

To ensure that each store has the correct product mix, sales managers make the selections based on their expertise about the specific preferences and trends in their regions of the country. Their insights are particularly helpful when it comes to selecting craft beers, Jefferson-Smith noted.   

One trend that the stores are seeing, she explained, is the increasing popularity of sweeter and lighter-tasting adult beverages. 

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