It’s last call for this city-run liquor store that lost money for 19 years

Richfield is closing one of its municipal liquor stores, which has lost tens of thousands of dollars each year for nearly two decades. The Shops at Lyndale liquor store has been open since 1996 and struggling to turn a profit for most of that time. Beginning in 2002, the store recorded losses in every year except two. Since 2007, the annual losses have averaged $51,000. The City Council decided to close the liquor store, at 7700 Lyndale Avenue S., after Dec. 31. “This is the fiscally responsible thing to do,” city spokesperson Kate Aitchison said in an interview. “If we could rewind time, we’d do things differently. But our staff is trying to react to the information they have and make the best decision.” Advertisement Last call for the Richfield liquor store comes after some other Minnesota cities have closed municipal shops recently, amid a challenging environment for alcohol sales. The Brooklyn Center City Council last year decided to close one of its two shops because it was losing money. The number of municipal liquor stores across the state has dropped by more than 20 over the last decade to 208 in 2024, according to a 2026 state report . Most of those closures were in greater Minnesota. In Richfield, Assistant City Manager Sack Thongvanh said limited access to the Shops at Lyndale store has been a lingering issue. He said when city officials envisioned the store, they planned for an additional entrance on 77th Street, a county road, but that was never added because of constraints with the nearby intersection. And over the years, he said the store has competed with a growing number of liquor stores opening to the south in Bloomington.