Top 100 Retailer: Firehall Liquors Gets Creative

Editor’s Note: We’re recognizing our Top 100 Retailers in the beverage alcohol retail industry from the past year, including Firehall Liquors in Barnesville, MN, and our 2025 Retailer of the Year, Garfield’s Beverage.

With wine sales losing momentum, liquor stores are getting creative with how they are making up for the loss.

For Firehall Liquors, that means selling low-dose THC products and inviting food trucks to park in their lot on Fridays. Store owner Randi Trowbridge says the THC products are so successful, they’ve even outpaced wine sales.

“We began selling THC products in September of 2023, and we have seen an increase in sales each month,” he says. “In 2024, we surpassed our expectations, with THC sales surpassing wine sales by 6%.”

Nestled into the corner of Hwy 9 and Hwy 34 in Barnesville, MN, Trowbridge also sees an influx of customers traveling to the store from North Dakota, where THC products are not sold.

Food Truck Fridays

Firehall Liquors built and opened a new location on January 4, 2022, boasting more room for additional products and activities. And while this is still their one and only location, it allows Trowbridge to bring in more revenue.

The new location has also made significant improvements in the last 12 months, including adding low-dose THC products, reducing wine selections and resetting the beer cave and cooler doors to clean up shelves and keep them organized for customers.

Firehall Liquors also has a local food truck come and set up in their parking lot from May through September, which has helped increase customer traffic and sales.

“We began Food Truck Fridays after a tough 2023 year,” explains Trowbridge. “In 2023, we had road construction that decreased our customer traffic substantially.  The town to the east of Barnesville was going to have road construction that would be impacting businesses for two years, so we reached out to one of our favorite restaurants and asked if they would like to set up their food truck to assist with sales.”

Food Truck Fridays has resulted in increased sales for both Firehall Liquors and the restaurant.

“Customers place their order with the food truck, then proceed to come into the store for their purchases while their food is being prepared. It works great for both of us,” says Trowbridge.

Increasing Revenue

During a time when wine, beer and spirits sales have been less than desirable, Firehall Liquors is managing to keep the momentum up and sales escalating.

“Thanks to low-dose THC products, even though our

 wine sales are down, THC sales are strong and helped us finish last year with an 8.2% increase in total sales,” Trowbridge says.

Throughout the next year, Trowbridge says he will continue promoting Food Truck Fridays as well as increasing his THC products section.

Aside from THC products, Firehall Liquors also prides itself on its customer satisfaction to help boost revenue.

“We are a municipal liquor store in Northwest Minnesota. We are part of an amazing rural community that supports its local businesses,” notes Trowbridge. “Our gross sales just surpassed $1million in the first year of our new location and it’s growing each year. We may not be able to compete with the big box stores, but we bring a sense of community and strong customer service to our customers, and because of that, we are successful.”

Krystina Skibo is the Trade Managing Editor at Beverage Dynamics. Reach her at kskibo@epgacceleration.com. Read her recent piece, Liquor Stores Make Room for Cannabis and CBD Beverages.

The post Top 100 Retailer: Firehall Liquors Gets Creative appeared first on Beverage Information Group.