Owner Donnie Knight, left, of Ridge Package Store is pictured above with customer Ramona Cooper on Wednesday Aug. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m. Aug. 15.
Wine sales at Ridge Package Store on Oak Ridge Turnpike dropped about two-thirds in one month after grocery stores started selling wine on July 1, and owner Donnie Knight announced his family-owned store is shutting down in October.
“The wine in grocery stores was the final nail for me,” Knight said Wednesday. “I can’t survive.”
Knight said he had been considering leaving the business for a while, but “this just confirmed it for me.”
He estimates he lost 5 percent to 6 percent of his customer base at a time when he didn’t think he could lose even 1 percent.
Knight, the only employee at the store, said he had hoped to close October 1, but it could be later in October, or as soon as he is able to liquidate. [Read more…]
