How alcohol delivery service in the valley is helping grow some businesses amid COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19 and shelter at home orders changed millions of lives practically overnight.

PHOENIX - The spread of COVID-19 and shelter at home orders changed millions of lives practically overnight.

It more than tripled sales for one lucky small business owner because now that people can’t go out for drinks, they’re having drinks delivered to them.

Before the stay-at-home order, a lot of people just didn’t know you could get alcohol delivered to your home.

The owner of Lucky’s Liquor in Phoenix has offered delivery service for the past several years, but in the last month, his business saw a sudden surge of new customers – and sales unexpectedly skyrocketed.

“It was slow growth for the last four years," owner Jack Sulaiman said. “We used to average 25 deliveries a day, now we average 85.”

Sulaiman says he doubled his staff from 6 to 12 employees.

The CEO of the app “Drizly,” another alcohol delivery service, reportedly saw a 450% increase in sales in New York right after the shutdowns started.

Suleiman says his numbers are nearly that high as well. “It’s a convenience factor. A lot of people didn’t know about it until this. Once people get used to it, I think it will stick ...," Sulaiman said.

Customers still have to show their ID to the delivery driver, by law, the information is recorded to verify age. They’ve come up with ways to do that, and still hold their distance.

“We’re having customers hold up their ID through the window, we write it down and we do social distancing that way,” he explained.

He says not only has the number of new customers shot up, but many have become repeat customers. Sulaiman owns two other small liquor stores in the valley and says the sudden surge caught him completely off guard.

“No it was unexpected," he said. "I never thought I’d see anything like this.”

In case you’re wondering, Sulaiman says White Claw and Vodka products are very popular among customers. The average total price of a order went from about $60 to $90.