Seen at ABC headquarters in Madison, MS, are, from left, Mark Hicks, Chief of Enforcement;
Dirk Robertson, Director of Purchasing; Irene Harris, Director of IT; Patsy Holeman, Director of
ABC; Liz McAfee, Director of Accounting/Processing; Rusty Hanna, Deputy Chief of Enforcement;
Jamie Eubanks, Warehouse Operations Manager.
SPEEDY DISTRIBUTION PROCESS
A
lso unique to Mississippi is the extremely efficient and
speedy distribution process guaranteed to ABC permittees. If ABC customers place an order by 11 a.m., the
requested product is delivered the very next day, across all
areas of the state. Mississippi currently has approximately
1,400 permittees, 550 of which are retail stores and 850 are
on-premise service providers. Of all product orders, 90% of
them are placed online. Deliveries are offered four days per
week, with a five-case minimum requirement. Participating
partners are enrolled in a draft payment system, and the
ABC withdraws payment from the business's account on
the day of delivery. The end result is that customers don't
have to worry much about inventory management, as
restocking can generally happen overnight. This is an
arrangement that is extremely beneficial to permittees,
although it does pose some challenges to the ABC itself.
We deliver to every remote corner of the state,"
explains Patsy Holeman, director of the ABC. "Our
warehouse works two 10-hour shifts, four days each
week, to keep up."
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Mississippi offers uniform product pricing to all
retailers, regardless of an establishment's size, making it
extremely attractive to small businesses. The ABC contracts with private shipping companies, which handle all
the deliveries. The cost of shipping is rolled into the cost
of each case at an additional charge of $5 apiece. Special
orders are shipped immediately upon receipt. Holeman
reports that the ABC receives and ships an average of
60,000 cases per week.
Holeman reports that Mississippi's 27.5% product
mark-up is much lower than many other states, making
it difficult to accurately compare any two states' overall
revenues side by side. The excise tax is $2.50 per gallon
on spirits, $1 per gallon of sparkling wine, and $.35 per
gallon of regular wine.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS
T
he ABC is focused on building and maintaining relationships with its private sector customers, stores and
restaurants. Morgan views those relationships as partnerships within the industry.
StateWays I www.stateways.com I January/February 2014
