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ABC Liquor Chain Celebrates Store In New Port Richey

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By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: February 15, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - ABC Fine Wine & Spirits executives said they hope a new store will become the toast of the town.

A bulldozer reduced the old ABC store at 6115 U.S. 19 to rubble recently to reveal the new building, which has twice as much space, on the same site.

"It's quite a bit bigger," Lorena Streeter, marketing communications manager for the Orlando-based ABC chain, said about the new store.

ABC's 9,600-square-foot home, a bit south of Main Street, has been open for several weeks. A grand-opening wine tasting and cigar event on Wednesday is expected to help raise the spirits of customers in the area.

The ABC chain maintains 150 stores in Florida with 1,500 employees, Streeter said. The company's sales have been essentially flat the past year, which given the recession could be considered quite a feat, she said.

ABC remains a family-owned business, with a third generation now directing the company.
ABC executives decided it would be easier to build a new store at the New Port Richey location instead of renovating the 35-year-old existing building, Streeter said.

First, the chain had to bring in 7 feet of fill dirt to raise the entire site to meet federal flood requirements. Crews had to build a retaining wall around the property to hold the fill.

With nearly twice the space, the new store has a temperature-controlled wine room, walk-in humidor, thousands of wine selections, hundreds of rare and popular spirits, a wine storage vault and more.

Larger ABC stores also typically offer a variety of gourmet foods, custom gift baskets and gift wrapping.

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