The following article was originally published by Louisville Business First on Feb 8, 2021:

With alcohol sales soaring during the coronavirus pandemic, a Louisville-based liquor retailer is expanding with two new store locations under its two different brands.

Evergreen Liquors, a brand owned by Cox’s Outlet and Spirits Shoppes, is adding a location at 720 E. Market St. And Cox’s is adding a location at 1800 S. Highway 53 in LaGrange. Cox’s, a local employee-owned company established in 1995, purchased the Evergreen Liquors business in Middletown in 2017 and expanded its brand to the former Beverage Warehouse in St. Matthews last year.

Now, with sales up 20% to 30%, Cox’s is expanding the footprint of both of its brands into new neighborhoods.

Mike Fisk, Cox’s chief sales and marketing officer, told me that St. Matthews store sparked the idea to continue to grow the Evergreen brand, hence the newest retail location in NuLu. Evergreen Liquors is expected to open in the former Scout space on Market Street in April before the Kentucky Derby.

“We’re going directly into the bourbon district of downtown,” Fisk said. “The building that we’re going into has Rabbit Hole Distillery right behind it and Angel’s Envy and Old Forester right down the street, so it makes a lot of sense to have a liquor store downtown in the middle of that bourbon district.”

Notably, a premium, six-story hotel was just proposed in the vacant spot right next to Evergreen’s new location. With three potential hotels in the area along with the distilleries, Fisk said tourism will be a huge part of the business.

“We’re excited and I think it’s going to be pretty good location,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be a different atmosphere and kind of a new concept for us. It’s going to look a little different than our other Evergreens, but it’s going to have a lot of the same pieces that people are used to with the brand.”

Evergreen and Cox’s are two distinctly different concepts, Fisk continued. While Cox’s is more focused on the convenience factor, Evergreen’s store is more experience-based and has a much larger selection of products.

“We have tasting bars at Evergreen where you can go and actually try some of the most allocated bourbons in the world, such as Pappy Van Winkle and Buffalo Trace antique collections,” he said.

In addition to regular retail operations, the 4,200-square-foot NuLu location will have high-end tasting bar that serves bourbon, wine and craft beer.

Meanwhile, Cox’s will simultaneously work to open the new LaGrange store, right off of interstate 71. Fisk said sales have been “through the roof” at all of Cox’s 18 locations since the pandemic began and into the new year.

“We’re continuing to see that growth in business, which I think some of it has to do with Covid-19, but I think there’s also a piece of it with our convenience-style business,” he said. “We launched delivery services last year so I think that plays into it as well. We have a lot of things going for us right now that are going to help us continue to grow.”