Cox’s Spirit Shoppes and Evergreen Liquors has acquired a chain of area retail stores in a deal that will make the Louisville-based company the largest locally-owned liquor retailer in Kentucky.

The employee-owned, dual-brand retailer has purchased three Party Center locations in Prospect, Fern Creek and Middletown. With the recent acquisition, Cox’s and Evergreen Liquors will have added six new storefronts in just six months, according to Mike Fisk, chief sales and marketing officer.

Following an unprecedented year of sales during the coronavirus pandemic, the company was interested in acquiring multiple new locations that could expand its footprint in the Louisville region, Fisk continued. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The Prospect location is one of the premier liquor stores in the city of Louisville — has been for a really long time, so that’s an area that we’re not necessarily in yet with either the Cox’s or the Evergreen brand,” he said. “The Prospect location is going to fill a void in the area for us, and then the Fern Creek and Middletown locations are just two pretty solid liquor store locations that help add to our arsenal stores.”

The Party Center storefronts in Prospect and Fern Creek will both be rebranded under Evergreen Liquors’ moniker within three to six months. Middletown’s Party Center will keep its name for a while, as the company decides what’s best for that location because there is already an Evergreen Liquors in Middletown.

Fisk said the company will invest a substantial amount in each location to make them meet its standard for customers.

“Customers have an expectation when they come in, not only for the wide selection of products, but also the cleanliness of the store and the setup of the store to make sure it is very easily accessible and very easy to navigate throughout,” he said. “We’re going to look at all three locations over the next couple months and make some changes and refresh them a little bit to make sure they fit that model.”

For example, in Prospect, Evergreen will build upon that store’s extensive wine selection, but it will also add a walk-in humidor for a wide variety premium cigars, something the store didn’t offer before.

As I previously reported, Evergreen Liquors just opened a new storefront in NuLu, where it also added a walk-in humidor.

Cox’s will also open a new storefront in LaGrange later this summer, bringing the company’s total store count to 26 including the newly-acquired locations. Cox’s and Evergreen is now Kentucky’s largest locally-owned liquor retailer, a title previously held by Liquor Barn.

As Business First reported last week, GoPuff, a Philadelphia-based digital retail company, purchased Liquor Barn from Louisville-based private equity firm Blue Equity for an undisclosed sum. Liquor Barn, Party Mart and DEP’s (a wine and spirits retailer in Northern Kentucky) have 23 stores combined.