SAN ANGELO, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Saturday asking members of the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Package Stores Association and all Texas retailers to voluntarily remove all Russian products from their shelves and some San Angelo businesses have done just that.
Pinkie’s Wine and Liquor, Angry Cactus and Chadbourne Tavern are some of the local businesses that decided to remove all Russian made vodka and other liquors from their shelves.
Chadbourne Tavern owner Fernando Fuentez is currently skimming through the club's inventory to make sure they do not own any Russian-made products.
“If we see any Russian-made products here, we will be pulling them immediately. We will also be changing a few names of our drinks here in solidarity with Ukraine,” Fuentez said.
He is also working on implementing the Ukraine flag colors into his club lighting and into a specialty drink.
While businesses are participating in the boycott to show support to the Ukrainians, speculations rose on whether the boycott will negatively impact the finances of these businesses. This is something the Texas Restaurant Association says they’re watching closely.
“Many of our restaurants have told us that they’re not going to purchase anymore Russian imports, but they might have already had that alcohol they’ve already purchased weeks or months ago. So for now they’re taking the alcohol off the shelves and off the menus while also trying to figure out what to do with what they have in stock,” Texas Restaurant Association Chief Public Affairs Officer Kelsey Streufert shared.
Strefert mentioned because of this recent boycott, it's the best time to utilize the $180 million added by the Texas Legislature to support local hospitality and tourism businesses into SB 8, the federal pandemic relief bill.
To support locally and state-owned businesses, it’s encouraged to purchase distilled alcohol made in Texas including Tito's Handmade Vodka, Rebecca Creek Whiskey and Deep Eddy Ruby Red Vodka.