Florida: Where can you buy liquor?
Florida licenses private package stores to sell liquor; those stores must sell only alcohol and have no inside connection to other businesses.
State-licensed vendors may sell alcoholic beverages of any strength in sealed containers to take away. Package stores must be used only for alcohol sales and a short list of related items, with no openings into another building or room. That is why liquor stores attached to supermarkets are separate shops. The state does not buy or sell liquor itself.
What the law says
Vendors licensed under s. 565.02(1)(a) shall not in said place of business sell, offer, or expose for sale any merchandise other than such beverages, and such places of business shall be devoted exclusively to such sales; ... Such places of business shall have no openings permitting direct access to any other building or room
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 565.04 (Package store restrictions) Official · leg.state.fl.us
- Fla. Stat. § 565.02 (License fees; vendors) Official · leg.state.fl.us
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco
- Phone
- (850) 487-1395
- Website
- www2.myfloridalicense.com
How bordering states compare
- Alabama State wholesale, private storesAlabama's ABC Board runs its own liquor stores and sells liquor at wholesale, and it also licenses private stores to sell liquor.
- Georgia Private licensed storesGeorgia licenses private retail package liquor stores to sell distilled spirits to consumers; the state does not sell liquor.