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Contrary to a rumor circulating on social media, a local distributor is functioning as usual.
Buquet Distributing is operating as per usual, according to owner and President James J. Buquet, Thursday, March 19. Like other companies preparing for hardships brought on by the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, Buquet Distributing in making plans for the possibility of employees becoming ill, but as of the time of this article, they have not been implemented.
“We’re running as usual and planning to do so,” said Buquet. “In a word, ‘no,’ we’re not closed and we don’t plan to close.”
Anheuserr Busch, maker of Budweiser and other beverages, has eight wholesalers around the state, said Buquet, and it is possible the rumor could refer to one of those, “each guy is free to make his own business decision on operations,” he said.
Last week, when Governor John Bel Edwards passed a ruling to close down bars, Buquet said, sales were down maybe half a percent. That has been offset this week, according to Buquet, because supermarkets and convenience stores have increased demand.
“Just like there’s a run on toilet paper, there’s a run on everything including beer,” explained Buquet. “The off-premise – the supermarket and convenience stores – are showing spikes in activity and of course everything in the on-premise environment has gone dead.”
Buquet described the sales as similar to hurricane preparations, “we feel like we’ve been in a two week hurricane mode,” said Buquet.
