"package store"

[Natalie Maynor]

Jessie Emerson wrote:

> I could be wrong, but I believe that "package store" in the South carries
> with it the connotation of an establishment (like a gas station) that sells
> beer and maybe wine, but not liquor.

That is definitely not the case in Mississippi.  A package store here
is where you go to buy hard liquor or wine.

>  You go to a "liquor store" or "state
> store" or "ABC store" to buy hard liquor.

"State stores" and "ABC stores" don't exist in Mississippi.  The term
"liquor store" is sometimes used, though.  In fact, it may be gradually
taking over as a more common term than "package store."  "Package store"
was the only term I remember hearing back in the early days of legal
liquor in Mississippi, but now I hear "liquor store" pretty often.
   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)