SALES OF LIQUOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 16

SALES OF LIQUOR.

BRISK CHRISTMAS TRADE. BENEFIT OFFSET BY COSTS. A bripk holiday trade has been experienced this year by licensed hotels in Auckland, and the turnover from sales of liquor has been considerably larger than in recent years. In many cases, however, the heavily increased costs, due largely to the introduction of the 40-hour week, have offset the higher turnover, and it is doubtful what actual benefits have been derived. It was stated that accurate estimates of the value of the business would not 1h» known until next week. There has been no great variation in the quality of liquor disposed of this year, although several houses reported a better demand for wines and other " luxury " lines. It was stated that the increase in trade was most noticeable in the fact that people spent more freely and purchased slightly larger quantities. " My business has gone up by pounds, and the return for the past fortnight is greatly in excess of that for the same period last year,"' stated one Auckland publican this morning. He mentioned that there had been a marked sale of " half-handles." While some hotelkeepers said bv reshuffling of staff they had not "been unduly affected by the introduction of the 40-iiour week, others stated that the decreased hours had caused disorganisation, and in some cases had resulted in a shortage of labour over the rush perioJ. A similar position is reported in Wellington, and it was stated that other centres m the Dominion would probablv have experienced the same difficulty *