Business phone system for beer, wine and liquor stores

Beer, wine and liquor stores in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 36,433 beer, wine and liquor stores in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 445310, Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores). They employed 193,533 people in mid-March and paid $5.4 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 5.3 employees. That is 10.7 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

California has the most (4,408), followed by New York (3,403), Texas (2,389), and Pennsylvania (1,810). Relative to population, District of Columbia leads with 29.2 per 100,000 residents, and Utah has the fewest at 1.6.

Why the phone matters for beer, wine and liquor stores

Liquor stores field calls about stock, special orders and event quantities. Calls from event planners and restaurants are often time-sensitive.

Calls beer, wine and liquor stores commonly handle:

• A customer calls to check whether a wine is in stock.
• An event planner calls about a large order.
• A customer calls about a special order.
• The store calls a customer when an order arrives.
• A customer calls about hours.

Texting and after-hours calls

Stores text special-order notices.

After-hours calls are mostly stock and hours questions.

How big beer, wine and liquor stores are

61.7% of U.S. beer, wine and liquor stores with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 86.5% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Beer, wine and liquor stores by state

Establishment counts for the 51 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for beer, wine and liquor stores

Census published liquor store counts for 780 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

What a phone system costs a liquor store in the U.S.

The average U.S. liquor store has 5.3 employees, so the comparison uses a 5-person team. On a per-user plan that headcount sets the bill: $124.75 a month on Ooma Office Pro or $150.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core at list price (checked September 28, 2026). Callata comes to $99.00 a month for 5 users ($99 a month with 5 users included, then $20 per additional user), below both.

Over a year, that is $612 less than RingCentral for a liquor store in the U.S. of that size. Annual contracts lower some competitors' prices, so compare the plan you would actually sign.

How Callata works for beer, wine and liquor stores

For $99 a month, Callata puts a team of up to 5 on one plan ($20 for each person after that): up to 3 local numbers, unlimited inbound calls, a pooled allowance of 1,500 outbound US and Canada minutes per user, browser and cell calling, voicemail transcription with urgency triage, recorded calls with AI summaries and business-hours routing, with E911 on every number.

Texting from a local number requires carrier registration (10DLC), a one-time $49 fee. Porting an existing number is free.

AI agents are optional: an AI receptionist or scheduler can pick up when the team is busy or closed, take a message, send a text or email, or transfer the call. They draw on prepaid AI minutes ($0.25/minute), disclose that they are AI, and outbound AI calls require prior consent and are limited to 8am–9pm.