No more respite from outdoor line-ups for Whitehorse liquor store customers

A curbside liquor pick-up service in Whitehorse put in for the Christmas seasonends Friday.

The program allowspeople to order alcohol products by email and then pick them up at the Yukon Liquor Corporation's warehouse, said the director of sales and purchasing, Daniel Carrick-Specht.

"We looked at December, and because it is our busy holiday season for us and the physical distancing needed for our customers and stuff, we brought in the email ordering to reduce the line-ups at the liquor store," he said.

The program was a success, Carrick-Specht said.

The busiest day was Dec. 23, he said, when 81 orders were filled at the warehouse. Overall, Carrick-Specht said, about three per cent of the sales during December in the Whitehorse area were done at the curbside.

He said the corporation took on temporary workers for the program, but there won't be enough demand from customers for the remainder of the winter to justify leaving it in place.

Liquor sales in 2020 were down May through August, Carrick-Specht said, climbingback to normal in the fall.

December's sales were nine per cent higher than 2019, he said.