Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The staff at Utah's "newest" liquor store applauded as the doors swung open for the first time and a few dozen customers filed in to peruse the beer, wine and spirits carefully placed on the shelves of the two-story building.
This building is the new location of Utah State Liquor Store No. 1, after the old location near Pioneer Park officially closed on Saturday. Its staff members and remaining inventory were moved to a new, two-story site constructed near the Broadway theater and a handful of downtown bars and restaurants.
"This project is literally many years in the making," said Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services Director Tiffany Clason. "It's really exciting. ... It is one of the largest stores in the state."
Building a 'flagship'
The 14,500-square-foot facility is nearly five years in the making. State legislators and others agreed that the aging Utah State Liquor Store No. 1 had served its purpose and it was time to find a new place for it, Clason explained.
The state scouted out locations it owned and found a perfect spot on 300 South, next to Edison Street in downtown Salt Lake City — previously a parking lot for state employees. The plan initially called for a parking garage, but that idea was ultimately scrapped. However, since the parcel was much smaller than most other state liquor stores, the department followed through on making it the state's first two-story liquor store.
From there, the department pieces together what Clason calls the state's "flagship" location.
The two stories helped the department double the available inventory of the old downtown location, which was one of the state's better-performing stores despite its size. The new facility also features 37 refrigerator doors filled with beer and other beverages, as well as a "Proudly Utah" section stocked with products produced by local brewers and distillers.
The refrigeration section builds on a common theme that started in 2021. The department started tracking customer service feedback data in 2018 and no refrigeration was constantly the top complaint at stores, which is why all new stores now offer that feature.
"This store is the gateway (and) is the model of how all of our stores should be, not only internally from a state workforce perspective but a customer service experience," she told KSL.com.
That includes local businesses. Department officials say the store was "specially designed" to accommodate the nearly 300 establishments with a state liquor license in the surrounding area. Those establishments can order products online and pick them up through a loading section for businesses.
This is a welcomed change, said Jason LeCates, managing partner the Bourbon Group, which operates a few downtown bars. He said managers of those businesses either had to travel to the state's Club Store in Glendale or run around the different state liquor stores scattered across the city to collect products, but he expects the new store will "centralize everything."
"This is something that Salt Lake's really needed for a long time so we're really happy to see it," he said.
In all, the new store cost about $9 million to build. It's expected to generate $13 million in sales and tax revenue during the 2025 fiscal year, which begins in July. About a fifth of its sales are projected to come from hospitality businesses that purchase booze from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services.
Clason says the store will ultimately benefit both drinkers and nondrinkers, alike. The agency estimates $5 million will be sent back to the state and another $1 million will go toward local governments through 2025 sales. These help fund public safety, education and infrastructure projects.
"The revenue generated from our store helps all Utahns, whether they drink or not," she said. "It's incredible what our revenue — through responsible sales — do to keep taxes low."
Displaying history
The new store also features a tiny exhibit with century-old bottles, plates and other artifacts. This store feature wasn't originally planned, but it came together after construction crews uncovered the items as they excavated the property last year.
The Utah State Historic Preservation Office was called to inspect the uncovered items since the discovery occurred on state land. Chris Merritt, the state's preservation officer, determined the old parking lot — constructed in the 1960s — was likely built over old outhouses where residents and businesses dumped their trash.
Many of the displayed artifacts date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, as the area shifted from single-family dwellings to a commercial district.
There are old beer, liquor and soda bottles, as well as some other interesting items. Crews uncovered an old horseshoe, a piece of a pot designed by a well-known 19th-century potter named Frederick Peterson and a formaldehyde bottle likely used to help prevent milk from spoiling. The latter was a common practice in the late 1800s and early 1900s before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was established, as noted by Smithsonian Magazine.
Merritt says all of this together tells an interesting Salt Lake City history story.
"You add up all of this, you get a picture of a low-to-middle economic class seeing the transition of this area from largely family-oriented to largely apartments, tenements and businesses," he said.
Many of those were erased with parking lots, but the new liquor store — and many new structures nearby — show how the area's land use is changing again.
