September 29, 2023: Off-License Near My Apartment

I am very disappointed about an off-license near my flat. It was very busy about ten years ago but is now so deserted that I wonder what has happened to it. I suppose that it will have to close down sooner or later. It does not look nice. Instead, it is like a warehouse store with a lot of shelves, like a Costco store. About ten years ago when it was very busy, it gave me so many choices and outpriced its competitors. It had 100 or more choices of wines and it was fun to pick one from them. It also had a good selection of beers, whiskies, Japanese sake and shochu. So I always went to the store to buy alcohol and never went to any other stores.
However, it has lost its shine about a few years ago. It began to reduce its selection, and the wine selection was cut to one-tenth. It also stopped selling a lot of beer and other alcohol. As a result, I found a lot of empty and dark space. It, even further, reduced its selection after the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-thirds of the store now has nothing but dusty, empty, dark shelves. So I had entirely lost my interest in the store. The store is now so dusty and dark, with little stock, that it looks like a haunted house. And the drinks on the shelves seem to have been left there for so long that I am reluctant to buy them. It has been doing a wholesale business, delivering its alcohol to restaurants and bars around the store. But the business does not go as well as before the COVID-19 pandemic. The store no longer has the power to return to what it used to be. It just seems to be waiting for the end of the business without doing anything. I am very sad to see the store close.

　近所にある酒屋が残念です。10年前くらい前までは盛況だったのですが、今は、「なんでこうなったの」と思うくらいさびれてしまいました。この調子では、遅かれ早かれ、閉店しそうです。決しておしゃれな店ではなく、店内はコストコのように、沢山の棚がならぶ倉庫のような店です。大盛況のころは、品揃えが豊富で、価格もお手頃でした。ワインなどは、100種類くらいあり、選ぶのが楽しかったです。また、ビール、ウィスキー、日本酒や焼酎の品揃えも豊富でした。酒を買うならここと決めていたものです。ところが、数年前くらいから、その勢いがなくなり、ワインの種類も10分の一位になりました。また、数多くのビールや他の商品の販売も止めてしまいました。そのため、店内には、暗い空きスペースが目立つようになりました。コロナのパンデミック後は、更に、品ぞろえを減らしたため、店の３分の２には埃だらけの空の棚しかありません。こうなると、店に行く気がなくなります。品揃えが少なく、かつ、埃っぽく、暗い店は、お化け屋敷のようす。そして、棚にある商品も、置きっぱなしのようで、とても買う気になれません。この店は卸しもやっており、近所の飲食店に酒類を配達しています。でも、コロナパンデミック前のようにはいかないようです。
この店には、盛況だったころに戻る力がもうありません。なにもせずに、ひたすら閉店を待っているようです。残念無念。