MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Mississippi liquor store shops and bars have been running out of alcohol. This has been going on for months. Late deliveries of thousands of cases of liquor have led to low spirits. Shamira Muhammad with Mississippi Public Broadcasting has this report.
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SHAMIRA MUHAMMAD, BYLINE: At Arrow Wine & Spirits in Clinton, Mississippi, store manager Shaun Blakeney is walking through aisles of empty shelves. She's only open one day a week.
SHAUN BLAKENEY: We've gotten no moscatos, you know, very little traditional wines that, you know, staples is what we call them. No gin, no tequila. I'm out of the rums, I'm out of the vodkas.
MUHAMMAD: Mississippi is a control state, which means the government manages all the wholesale liquor. In a warehouse near Jackson, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, more than 165,000 cases of alcohol are just sitting there waiting to be delivered around the state. Blakeney's customers are hopeful they can still get some alcohol.
BLAKENEY: And we had the Andre sweet peach mimosa in a can. I like those. They're in the cooler. They're not cold. The coolers are off. But they are in the cooler over there.
MUHAMMAD: OK.
Now all that's left at Arrow Wine & Spirits is some bourbon, alcohol mixes, a few bottles of mezcal. Ruan is the company in charge of the state's alcohol warehouse. They decided to do away with a conveyor belt system in January because it was old. Instead of getting a new one, they switched to what they call a pick to pallet system, meaning workers pick the liquor by hand and put it on pallets. Within days, a backlog began.
BLAKENEY: I appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: How long is the delay?
BLAKENEY: They're saying until June.
MUHAMMAD: At the front of Arrow Wine & Spirits is a skeleton wearing a sombrero.
BLAKENEY: This one-eyed Willie. He's ready for Cinco, even though we do not have any more ingredients to sell.
MUHAMMAD: It takes an average of nearly 17 days for the warehouse to fulfill orders now instead of three, according to the Department of Revenue. The distributing company, Ruan, says in a statement delivery times should go back to normal in the coming weeks. They've increased staff, added shifts and extended work hours. Still, a few liquor stores had to close because of the backlog, and Arrow Wine & Spirits laid off all staff, says Blakeney.
BLAKENEY: Well, we're only open five hours a day, only on Fridays. We're just hanging on by the skin of our teeth.
MUHAMMAD: Many restaurants in Mississippi say they're also losing money because they can't get alcohol. Meanwhile, at least three liquor stores have filed lawsuits against the distributing company.
For NPR News, I'm Shamira Muhammad in Jackson, Mississippi.
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