Bella Vista residents can now buy liquor without traveling outside of town.
Bella Vista Wine and Spirits opened last weekend at 31 Cunningham Corner, which is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 71 and Riordan Road.
The liquor store is a full-service store, featuring wine, spirits and beer, said store manager Lee Deaton, who worked at Crossover Liquor in Fayetteville and most recently as wine manager at County Line Liquor in Springdale. He has been in the retail liquor business for nearly 10 years.
Construction on the interior of the store began in August. It was set to open in late 2015, but was delayed several times.
"Everything has been ready for a while. We had a lot of delays with our software company who was helping with the inventory and registers," Deaton said. "We ended up having to change companies ... After we changed companies, we had everything up and running within a week."
Last week, vendor crews were busy stocking shelves and putting up displays, while Deaton was setting up the computers and ordering supplies.
Deaton says that he and one other worker are the only current full-time employees.
"We're going to eventually hire more people as business increases," he said.
The store features a drive-through operation that will be able to provide anything that the store offers, Deaton said.
The wine section features domestic wines from California, Washington and Oregon as well as Arkansas wines. In addition, wines from France, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand will be available.
Deaton said the store has a good scotch selection as well as Japanese whiskey.
The store has domestic, craft and foreign beers, he said, as well as several Arkansas beers, including Core Brewery of Springdale and Diamond Brewery of Little Rock.
"We are looking forward to serving the people of Bella Vista," said Borum Cooper, managing partner for the store. Customers won't have to travel to the Missouri line stores anymore, he added.
Technically, this is not Bella Vista's first liquor store. Mac's Get 'N Go, which was a convenience store located where the CVS Pharmacy now stands, operated as a liquor store for one day to fulfill requirements of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. A license was granted to that location, but to activate it, the location had to be open for one day.
Editorial on 02/10/2016