Alcohol Sales Begin

Ben Mitchell Enterprises Inc. received a faxed copy of its’ permit for alcohol sales on June 18, and the first beer sales in Van Zandt County took place the next morning.

"We placed our order on Thursday (18th), and the trucks were here at 8 a.m.," said owner Benny Mitchell.

Three distributors showed up with more than 1,300 cases of beer on Friday morning. Mitchell described sales at Ben’s Mobil on 4th St. as moderate, but patrons at Mitchell’s Oil on Highway 80 described the store as a madhouse.

"Somebody said the wait in line was 15 minutes," said Maston Mitchell. "I think they were exaggerating, but there was definitely a line and a wait at the register."

As word spread throughout the county, customers came just to see and be part of the historic day.

"Somebody drove in from Troup who said they were raised here and just wanted to see it," Benny said. "The First Monday office in Canton also called and asked if they could officially refer people to Wills Point for beer and wine."

He related other stories of people bypassing Terrell to purchase their beverages in Wills Point.

"We had some customers from Mineola," Maston added. "Everybody was excited. It’s a new experience for everybody. A lot of people said that we were saving them a lot of gas money."

The stores sold out over the weekend and received new orders on Monday and again on Wednesday.

"I think we’re settling down into a steady business now," Benny said.

Mitchell Oil also received a visit from someone that wasn’t a customer. An agent from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) stopped in, Maston said, and later reported that everything checked out.

"We had a mandatory TABC class for our employees, and all of our employees will be TABC certified," Ben Mitchell said, adding that certification was not mandatory but something the business will require. The business has also had to add new employees.

The business received its’ county license on Monday, June 15, and Maston hand delivered it to Austin on Tuesday morning. The Mitchell’s were to receive its’ first shipment of wine on Thursday (June 25).

The 24-Hour Market also joined in with alcohol sales, taking it’s first deliveries and making its’ first sale on Tuesday afternoon.