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The growing nonalcoholic beverage industry has led stores that sell beer, wine and liquor to start stocking up on nonalcoholic beverages.
But now D.C.’s first and only store that sells exclusively nonalcoholic drinks is up and running at Union Market on a temporary basis 鈥� though this is a test run for a permanent store in the future.
Darryl Collins said that’s because he believes there鈥檚 a market for it. He owns Hopscotch Bottle Shop, a nonalcoholic liquor store in Baltimore鈥檚 Fells Point neighborhood.
鈥淚t’s been great. People have driven from Annapolis, Pennsylvania, D.C., Columbia 鈥� kind of all over 鈥� to come to the shop,鈥� said Collins, as he prepared his pop-up, or in his case 鈥渉op-up鈥� store to open in Union Market.
鈥淧eople were coming up and they鈥檇 say, 鈥楬ey, when are you going to come down?鈥� So we figured, hey, we’re gonna do a ‘hop-up’ here at Union Market, kind of try it out, and see how it goes before we actually focus in a location down here.鈥�
What stands out to him is that there isn鈥檛 a store already like his in the D.C. area.
In 2022, there was $11 billion in nonalcoholic beverage sales, he said. In 2023, the figure climbed to $13 billion 鈥� a 20% increase.
“Name another industry that has up to a 20% increase in one year,” Collins said.
鈥淭here are people who don’t drink for multiple reasons, whether they’re pregnant, whether they’re focused on wellness, whether they鈥檙e sober,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople don’t drink for a variety of reasons. And for some reason, it seems that people are not stocking it here in D.C. So we thought we will come down and share these options with our friends down here in the District.鈥�
Hopscotch has a wide variety of nonalcoholic beer options 鈥� whether it鈥檚 stouts, sours, IPAs, you name it 鈥� to go with wines and spirits, including rum, tequila and bourbon. Most of the time, the spirits are made for mixing into cocktails, not drinking straight. And customers can sample some of the wines and spirits before they buy a bottle so they know they鈥檒l like it.
鈥淧eople will say, 鈥榃ell, what’s the point of drinking a nonalcoholic beverage?鈥� But not everyone drinks to get drunk,鈥� said Collins, who himself says he drinks alcoholic beverages sometimes. 鈥淢any of us drink because we like the taste of something, right?”
鈥淚 have more of a balance,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd that is our model, that life is about balance.鈥�
Hopscotch is guaranteed to be open for at least a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the weekends, and he said the pop-up hours are likely to be extended beyond that first week if sales go well, at least until he can find a permanent store.
鈥淚f people want a store here in the District,鈥� said Collins, 鈥渨e’re definitely looking and willing to provide a store here in the District.鈥�
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