Atlantic Liquors celebrates 25 years by offering drawings for prizes

“The Greatest Liquor Store In The World” is turning 25.

Atlantic Liquors in Rehoboth Beach is celebrating its 25th year in business this year, having grown from a two-car garage to the massive operation it is today. To thank customers for their support over the years, Atlantic Liquors has started a drawing that will give away $10,000 in prizes. A new website is also in the works. Customers can register now for the drawing, which takes place in December.

Jay Diaz, a former Atlantic employee now handling marketing and promotion for the store, said there will also be prizes for any customers seen sporting the new Atlantic Liquors bumper stickers, which are available at the store. Diaz said the prizes include coolers and other gifts. The final piece of the anniversary puzzle is a new sign that will be erected on the side of the store proclaiming Atlantic as “The Greatest Liquor Store In The World.”

“I feel it’s almost an icon, just like Dolle’s is downtown,” Diaz said.

Dave Potts, who started the store in a garage behind his house – now Barstools Plus – founded Atlantic Liquors in 1984. In 1987, Dale Lomas, who had worked at Dolle’s, came on as a partner. Potts later left the business, and soon thereafter, Mike Subrick came on as a second partner.

Lomas said Potts decided to get a liquor license after Potts found out a mall was going to be built across the street. Potts started the store in an unattached garage behind his house.
“It was your true half-pint shop,” Lomas said.

He said the original store did a little bit of business but traffic really increased when developments started popping up on Old Landing Road. Lomas said in the old days, liquor stores generally gave discounts to regulars, with every niche – locals, construction workers and seniors – having its own discount.

Lomas said, “One thing that we did, which at the time upset some people but they quickly learned they were better off this way, we decided to eliminate any of this 10 percent off stuff. We just dropped our prices substantially. We could beat anybody’s prices without the 10 percent off. Instead of charging $10 for something and maybe having one-half pay $10 and the other half paying $9, what we did is, we said, ‘We can sell this for $8.49 and still make $1 a bottle off it.’”

He said keeping overhead and expenses down, Atlantic was able survive with lower profit margins.

“The next thing you know, we were selling more and more every week,” Lomas said. “It just kind of blossomed, and every year it kind of built up and built up and built up. That was probably one of the wisest decisions we ever made – just to eliminate the discounting and just give everyone the best price possible.”

As the business expanded, Atlantic needed to expand its facilities. After exhausting the possibilities of its first location, Lomas and Subrick bought the lot on the corner of Old Landing Road and Route 1 in 1997. The original store they built on the site has been expanded, and solar panels have been put on the roof. Lomas said you could tell where the oldest parts of the building are by the writing on the roof, which employees left while stocking cases of beer to the ceiling because they did not have enough room.

Since its founding, Atlantic Liquors has built up a loyal following, with customers coming every year from locales as diverse as Pennsylvania and Maryland to Ohio and even Canada. Diaz said when he worked at the store, it was not an uncommon sight to see vacationers stocking up at Atlantic before heading home. Diaz said customers are loyal not only to the sense of community Atlantic has created by being around so long, but also because of the hands-on, customer-friendly approach of Lomas and Subrick, who work at the store every day.

Lomas said, “This business has just been crazy. It’s almost like a runaway train sometimes.”
Diaz, a friend of Subrick’s since middle school, said, “Mike used to say, ‘It’s interesting, even looking back as far as the Great Depression, when times are tough, people are sad, so they drink. When times are great, people are happy, so they drink. So no matter what, we’re always busy, we’re always growing.’”