Downtown Liquor Store Draws An Eclectic Mix Of Customers — Not Just Homeless People

The state liquor store downtown on 200 West and 400 South opens at 11 a.m., but a loose line starts forming outside the door 15 minutes before the doors are unlocked. The early shoppers on a recent weekday morning are made up of two groups of people — a haggard-looking crew with the cardboard signs they’ll use later to panhandle hanging limply by their waists and a small crowd of tourists in town for a work conference. As the groups stream inside, security guard Melonie Thompson greets the re... <iframe src="http://www.sltrib.com/csp/mediapool/sites/sltrib/pages/garss.csp" height="1" width="1" > </frame>