Turns out, the busiest day of the year for Utah liquor stores was also the richest-ever pre-Thanksgiving haul.
The 45 state-run outlets logged more than $3.6 million in sales Wednesday — $3,614,007, to be exact — according to statistics provided Thursday by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
That’s 4.5 percent higher than last year’s take and 6.3 percent above 2016’s total.
On Wednesday, customers bought more than 372,000 bottles of wine, high-alcohol beer and spirits, 6.7 percent more than they purchased in 2017.
By comparison, on a typical Wednesday — one that doesn’t take place before America’s annual celebration of family, food and football — state liquor stores sell a little more than 100,000 bottles of booze.
So this year’s pre-Thanksgiving tally — for the five days before the holiday — topped $11.7 million, 3.4 percent ahead of last year and nearly 10 percent above 2016.
All in all, a happy holiday for customers and state coffers.