MARSHALL — While products like craft beers remain popular at Marshall’s municipal liquor store, sales of THC beverages and edibles are growing. Eric Luther, manager of Tall Grass Liquor in Marshall, said sales of THC products were up this year. They also had one of the highest profit margins out of products sold at the liquor store in 2024.

“It’s actually one of the highest contributors to our gross profit, and probably the reason why we had a really good year as we finished 2024,” Luther said.

Sales of THC products accounted for about $300,000, or 4% of sales, at Tall Grass Liquor in 2024. “Looking at THC currently, we’re trending around the 5-6% range of sales. So it’s actually gone up a little bit more” in 2025, Luther said. “This is an increasing category to keep an eye on.”

Luther shared sales and other information with Marshall City Council members as part of Tall Grass Liquor’s 2024 annual report earlier this week.

Luther said overall sales at the liquor store last year were about $7.41 million. This was an increase of more than $42,000 from 2023’s total sales, he said.

Sales at the liquor store have increased over the past five years, Luther said.

Before 2020, “We were trending probably under $6 million” in annual sales, he said. Sales shot up to more than $6.8 million in 2020, and have been on an upward trend since 2022.

“We saw a lot of increased sales in 2020 because people were in their homes and hosting parties rather than going out during that COVID year,” Luther said.

As sales in 2024 approached $7.5 million, Luther said, it was good to see increases there.

Beer sales accounted for 43% of all sales at the liquor store in 2024.

“Beer is the biggest piece of the pie,” Luther said, “Spirits are following at a close second, with 38% (of sales).” However, beer did not account for the biggest share of the store’s profits.

Tall Grass Liquor had a gross profit of 30.1% in 2024, Luther said. Broken down into product categories, THC products had the highest profit margin, at about 35%, he said.

“Strategic purchasing, along with a focus on product costs and pricing have contributed to a consistent higher gross profit for 2024,” Luther said.

In 2024, the liquor store transferred $400,000 into the Marshall city general fund, and $200,000 into the debt service fund, Luther said.

Over the past couple of years, Tall Grass Liquor has also worked to expand an online ordering platform, Luther said.

“People can pre-shop on our website to see what we have and then come and visit us at the store, or they can order online,” he said. “We use this for special events like the Prairie Jam, for suite holders there, and then also for SMSU home football games.”

Despite strong sales in recent years, 2025 sales at Tall Grass were trending about 4% behind last year, Luther said. For the store’s proposed 2026 budget,”We’ve kind of taken an approach of being more conservative,” Luther said. The store is targeting a gross profit of around 29% in 2026, he said.