The vast majority of municipally owned liquors stores in Minnesota are in the smaller towns and cities of Greater Minnesota. So it is not unusual that 40 of the 44 stores listed in a recent state auditor’s report as losing money in 2006 were Greater Minnesota city-owned liquor stores.

A declining customer base and hard economic times are making it difficult for small-town municipals to survive. Overall, seven cities got out of the liquor-selling business in 2006, even while total sales increased for a record 11th consecutive year to $281.2 million.

“Population is the key,” said Candice Woods, manager of Hutchinson’s Liquor Hutch.

Many small town stores are both on-sale and off-sale operations. Woods, as a current board member and past president of the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association, is in a good position to know conditions they face.

“It is usually the only gathering place left in town,” she said. “The grocery stores and restaurants may be gone.”

Woods also said the state auditor’s numbers don’t always tell the whole story. A small store may show a loss because the city finally remodeled an aging store. That reinvestment will be reflected as losses for a couple of years.

For more, including the auditor’s report, read the May 8 Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)