Photo by Deb Gau Janel Venekamp set out a variety of products customers could sample during a tasting event at Tall Grass Liquor in Marshall earlier this week.

MARSHALL — The municipal liquor store in Marshall recorded a strong year in 2021, according to data released by the Minnesota State Auditor’s Office this month.

While manager Eric Luther said sales were down from the highs of 2020 during the COVID pandemic, Marshall’s Tall Grass Liquor still ranked within the top 20 municipal liquor stores in the state for gross sales.

“We still had a really excellent year,” Luther said.

Other area municipal liquor stores were also operating at a net profit last year, according to a report from the Minnesota State Auditor’s Office.

Earlier this month, the State Auditor’s Office released its annual report on the operations of the 212 municipal liquor stores across the state. Municipal liquor stores in Minnesota reported a record year in 2021, with sales totaling $423.5 million, the report said. Statewide, total sales were up by $12.9 million over 2020.

Profits were also up at municipal liquor stores statewide, with a combined net increase of 1.3%, or about $457,000, from 2020. Profits at off-sale operations were down 8.5% from 2020, but still higher than they were before the COVID pandemic.

Tall Grass Liquor, Marshall’s municipal liquor store, ranked 19th in the state for gross sales in 2021. Tall Grass had more than $6.7 million in sales last year, and a net profit of $944,305. That profit made up 14% of the store’s sales, the report said.

The top-ranking stores for gross sales in 2021 included Lakeville, Edina and Richfield, the report said.

Minnesota’s municipal liquor stores include a mix of off-sale and on-sale operations. Stores that had sales of alcohol on the premises generally had higher operating costs than stores with just off-sale operations.

Area liquor stores that had on-sale operations, or both on-sale and off-sale operations, included stores in the cities of Balaton, Hanley Falls, Russell and Walnut Grove.

The Balaton municipal liquor store had about $398,000 in sales and a net profit of $13,242 in 2021. The Hanley Falls liquor store had about $216,000 in sales and a net profit of $25,537. The Russell liquor store had sales of about $395,000 and a net profit of $11,286. The Walnut Grove municipal liquor store had about $447,000 in sales and net profits of $37,455 in 2021.

In addition to Marshall, the cities of Granite Falls, Redwood Falls and Tracy all have municipal liquor stores that are off-sale only. In 2021, The Granite Falls municipal liquor store had sales of about $1.37 million and a net profit of $189,178. The Redwood Falls municipal liquor store had sales of about $2.55 million and a net profit of $122,998.The Tracy liquor store had sales of about $799,000 and a net profit of $49,516.

Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson one of the major positive things about Tall Grass Liquor having strong performance was that income generated by the liquor store is used to help pay for public projects and to offset city property taxes. Recently, funds generated by the liquor store have been used to help make bond payments on Marshall’s new city hall building, and to fund the replacement of recreational trails at Independence Park.

The city has been able to use funds generated by the liquor store to help offset property taxes for the past two years, Hanson said. The city’s 2023 budget includes $400,000 in income from the liquor store to offset property taxes.

“We’re really pleased that 2021 was just as good as 2020,” Hanson said.

said Marshall being a regional center has likely had an impact on sales at Tall Grass Liquor. The liquor store is part of a retail environment that draws shoppers in from a wider area.

“We’ve got to give a lot of credit to our customers,” Hanson said. Luther and the liquor store staff have also done an excellent job meeting customers’ needs, she said.

“We want to be of service to our customers,” Luther said. In choosing what to invest in for the liquor store, he said, “You look at what customers are looking for. They’re looking for new products a lot of times.”

In the past year, Tall Grass Liquor had added features like displays that allow customers to pick their own mix of single-serving products. It’s been a good way for customers to try something new, Luther said. Having the space for a wide selection of products, and being able to host special events like tastings, has also been positive for Tall Grass, he said.

Luther said he was continuing to look at new ways to serve customers. In 2023, Tall Grass will be working on developing an online platform for customers to place orders.