Two Whatcom County state liquor stores will be closing on Tuesday, May 22 ahead of the transition to changing over to private stores.
The Bellingham Lakeway and Bellingham North (near Walmart) liquor stores will close on May 22 to compensate for store employees leaving for new jobs, according to a news release from the Washington State Liquor Control Board. These two stores will close along with nine others in the state, free up approximately 55 employees to fill-in the gaps at the other stores.
Once closed, the Lakeway liquor store in the Lakeway Center (near The Market at Lakeway) is scheduled to re-open on Friday, June 1, under private ownership, said Dave Pannu, the new owner of the store. The new owner of the Bellingham North store could not be reached for comment.
“We needed to make this move to mitigate the effects of employee attrition. By closing these stores we can continue to minimize disruptions in our service areas,” said Retail Director Chris Liu.
The closure of the stores will also give the new owners like Pannu time to re-stock the shelves.
I guess I won’t be able to buy liquor there again, but I certainly won’t be buying it at Costco or Walmart. They bought the election but not my business.