Alcohol Sales Booming In Henrietta - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

It's been about 80 years since Henrietta residents have been able to buy alcohol in their town.

Back in November residents voted in favor of legalizing alcohol sales and now the access to booze is keeping people from having to travel.

"Anything we do around here we have to drive for at least 30 miles so getting it close to home is a lot better," said Virginia Rodgers, the manager of the Quick Stop.

That has the Quick Stop bringing in a lot more cash these days. The convenience store started selling beer two weekends ago and so far it's the only one with a license to sell alcohol in town. That's why people started lining up outside when the first beer truck parked in front of the store. The rush of people buying the popular alcoholic beverage hasn't stopped since.

Rodgers says, "We've added about 80 people per day coming in and sometimes even more on Friday and Saturday night."

The heavy costumer traffic has even forced Rodgers to open up to more positions at the store to keep up with demand.

"I've put in about 19 hours overtime since we got beer because we don't have enough people to take care of everything and keep it running smooth," added Rodgers.

Even though 80% of the people voted in favor of alcohol sales during the election, there were many who were concerned with the bad effect this could have in town. But Henrietta's Director of Economic Development Rick Langford says, there's only been one change.

"There hasn't been an increase in alcohol consumption. Overall I just think that the sales will take place in the city instead of someone else's city and we'll take advantage of the exchange of money within our city," said Langford.

And it's all because those alcohol sales will help boost the sales tax returns for Henrietta.

Tanya De Jesus, Newschannel 6