Pa. liquor: Are you paying more for your favorite bottle?
Under a new flexible pricing power that the Pennsylvania legislature granted to the Liquor Control Board last year, on Aug. 28 the agency began rolling out price increases on 421 of its more-popular bottles of wine and liquor.
While prices change regularly for a variety of reasons, including vendor costs and the ends of discount periods, these marked the first increases imposed solely at the LCB’s discretion in 25 years.
After a request by The Inquirer and Daily News, the agency provided a list of all 1,833 price changes effective on Aug. 28 -- but declined to identify which prices, or how many, were raised under the new pricing power and which were as a result of other factors.
In all, 952 bottles increased and 881 decreased in price. The vast majority of increases were by 50 cents to $4. Up by $5 or more? 51 bottles, nine of which were wines. In an informal comparison of some major brands at liquor stores out of state, some Pennsylvania prices were much higher while a handful were good deals.
Check out what kind of bang you now get for your buck with our interactive graphics using information obtained from the LCB and the latest-available prices from some major Delaware and New Jersey stores.
A Price Boost for Booze
(Note: Prices can vary across stores out of state.)