EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Fine wine and good spirits will be easier to come by for people in this part of the Poconos. A new premium collection store opened this week at Pocono Plaza in East Stroudsburg.
"I think it's awesome, it's beautiful, its bigger, brighter, and I can see the selection is better," Rosemary Kress said. "It's awesome."
The new location has an expanded selection inside with hundreds of new wines from apple to zinfandel.
Shoppers Newswatch 16 spoke to are glad they won't have to travel to pick up their favorite spirits. The closest premium collection store in the county is in Mount Pocono.
"I used to drive into New Jersey to a ShopRite wine store out there to get the selection. Now I don't have to travel that far. It's right here in town," said Kenny Waite.
"The only other liquor store is like up (Route) 611, and that gets really congested. And for something that should take you five minutes to get up the road could take you 20, 25 minutes. Here is a convenient location, everything's right here. I think it's great," Kress said.
According to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, there will be no grand opening ceremony due to COVID-19, but there will still be a grand opening sale. It runs next Monday through Wednesday. Everything in the store will be 10 percent off.
Sue Green from Stroudsburg says these days, state stores run out of inventory fast, so she's glad to have another option.
"Just more variety, you know? I've been going to the other liquor store for year, and it's nice, but having this big option is nice that Pennsylvania is finally stepping up to the plate a little bit."
Other new features inside the store include an area called the Chariman's Selection, featuring unique wines and includes tasting notes to help people pick out the right bottle. Once things go back to normal, a wine tasting bar will open.