Backlog in liquor, wine deliveries frustrates retailers in Mississippi
[April 18, 2026] By
SOPHIE BATES and ADRIAN SAINZ
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Brandi Carter needs her wine.
As the owner of Levure Bottle Shop in Jackson, Mississippi, she sells
natural wine delivered to her business by a state agency responsible for
distributing alcoholic beverages to liquor stores, bars and restaurants.
But delays caused by problems in a state warehouse have led Carter and
many other retailers to see their inventory dwindle and their business
drop as they wait for new shipments.
Carter, who also handles the beverage program for a restaurant in
Jackson, said she has been dealing with delays since February, and she's
feeling helpless as traffic in her store goes down.
“I’ve just reached acceptance that this is our new normal, and it’s
awful,” Carter said Wednesday.
The state is the only distributor of liquor in Mississippi
In Mississippi, the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control department — an
arm of the Mississippi Department of Revenue — is responsible for
distributing wine and liquor to businesses that sell it. That's
different than other states, where individual companies handle alcohol
distribution, Carter said.
During the week ending April 12, there were more than 172,000 cases that
were pending delivery, and it was taking an average of 17 days for
businesses to receive their orders, according to the Mississippi
Department of Revenue.
Those numbers are down from the week ending March 1, when the backup
appeared to be at its peak for the year. At that time, there were more
than 220,000 cases pending delivery, and it was taking an average of 25
days for the process to be completed.
In contrast, the number of cases pending delivery was more than 51,000
and the wait time was three days for the week ending Jan. 11., the
department said.
Carter said the backlog has resulted in a wait of four to five weeks, as
opposed to a few days to two weeks before the delays began.
Warehouse issues caused the delay
Shipping delays from the state's 40-year-old warehouse emerged in
January as it went away from an “obsolete” conveyor belt system to one
where pallets were used to move cases, according to a statement from the
Mississippi Department of Revenue. A new warehouse management system
experienced technical issues, leading to delays, the department said.
“The computer program that they implemented for the warehouse wasn’t
working effectively with the ordering side,” Carter said. “So the first
big chunk was the biggest problem, because things were being marked as
shipped, but they weren’t shipped.”
The department said technical issues have been resolved and the
warehouse is operating at full capacity, with pending orders being
shipped as retail orders increase.
“While capacity at the existing facility has been a challenge for well
over five years, there is not an alcohol shortage,” the department said.
“As retail ordering stabilizes, we anticipate shipments returning to
normal volume within the coming weeks.”
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A shelf stands partially empty at Spillway Wine and Spirits in
Brandon, Miss, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
 Lawmakers thought about changing
the system
The Mississippi legislature debated temporarily allowing
out-of-state distributors to sell and ship alcohol directly to
retailers. The law would have been repealed after two years, but it
did not pass. The state’s legislative session has since ended.
A new warehouse set to be completed by the end of this year will be
able to store and ship over twice as many cases as the current
facility, the revenue department said.
Retailers, customers stymied by the backlog
Josh Sorrell, owner of Spillway Wine and Spirits in Brandon, said he
used to order 600 cases in a day, but he is now limited to 100 cases
per day. About 30% to 40% of the items he usually orders on a daily
basis have been unavailable, he said.
Sorrell believes restoring the conveyor belt system would fix the
problem. He has asked Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves to declare a
state of emergency.
If delays continue, Sorrell's concerned that business will suffer
into the end of the year, when he makes a lot of his sales.
“As it gets busier, we’re gonna crumble,” he said. “I mean, it’s
going to be really hard at 100 cases a day to stock up for a full
October, November, December.”
Meanwhile, customers are going to three or four stores looking for
their specific bottle, and they sometimes can’t find it, Sorrell
said.
“It’s frustrating to lose people at the door who are looking for a
specific product that I can’t even get from the state,” he said.
On Thursday, Lauren Roberts went to Sorrell's store looking for Soda
Jerk's orange cream shots, but he was out, just like the supermarket
where she usually buys it. So, she bought another type of drink for
an upcoming celebration with her family.
“We’re having a little get-together this weekend because it’s my
daughter’s prom and her boyfriend’s family’s coming,” Roberts said.
“So everybody has their drink of choice, but me.”
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Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee.
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