Booze news
Longtime Austin liquor store wiggles out of Clarksville after 46 years
Another longtime Austin business is closing. Days after Tex-Mex institution El Patio announced its closure, Clarksville’s Wiggy’s Wine and Spirits announced that the 1130 W. Sixth St. location is closing on August 1 after more than four decades.
A Facebook post announcing the shutter did not give a reason, but an employee at the location reveals a number of factors played into the decision. Chief among them was that the store wasn’t making enough money.
The corner liquor store is one of the West Austin neighborhood’s longest-running businesses. It originally opened on the corner of Sixth and Blanco streets in 1973 before taking over the next-door space in the late ‘80s.
The expansion allowed the store to greatly expand its wine selection. Today, Wiggy's boasts a temperature-controlled vault for rare vintages along with other amenities like two walk-in humidors.
According to the employee, Wiggy’s owners are not getting out of the liquor business entirely. The smaller location at 1104 N. Lamar Blvd., which was opened in 2000, will continue to serve the neighborhood.
It’s unclear what will happen to the Sixth Street building, which sits in a high traffic area across from Clark’s Oyster Bar. A real estate listing shows the building is currently available for lease.
Wiggy’s closure is just the latest in a series of changes to hit the West Sixth Street strip. In January, Peached Tortilla owner Eric Silverstein opened Bar Peached in the former home of Winflo Osteria. Swedish Hill Bakery Cafe & Deli — McGuire Moorman Hospitality’s reinvention of the long-running Sweetish Hill Bakery — is set to open by the end of 2019.