Family Liquor, located at 1014 East 4th Street, will close its doors for good this Friday. Owner James Harlen has the remaining inventory on sale for just one cent over price.
Harlen said the decision to close came after the store, which opened in October 2022, failed to meet his expectations.
“As of Friday, I’m closing up,” he said. “It’s just been … not up to par.”
Harlen said while he plans to use the building for storage in the short term for his other business, The Oven, there may be plans to repurpose the space in the future.
“We’re planning on putting something else in there at some point,” Harlen said. “Right now, we’re just going to use it for storage.”
Harlen said many of the popular items are already gone, with only select inventory remaining.
“I’m pretty limited in what I’ve got now. Everybody came in and got all the good stuff,” Harlen said. “I’ve probably got about a third of the inventory left. A lot of my locals have been coming in and buying their regular stuff.”
As Harlen prepares to shutter the store, he said he’s grateful for the customers who supported Family Liquor during its time in operation.
“We’ve had a lot of people in the area stop by regularly. It’s been great to see them, but I just can’t keep doing it,” he said. “I didn’t realize how much it takes to run a business like this until I got into it.”
