Customers will soon be able to buy alcohol at both of Powell’s Pit Stop convenience stores.

The chain’s West Coulter Avenue location, Pit Stop Travel Center #12, expects to begin selling liquor and beer within a couple of weeks. The change won’t be particularly dramatic, as the store will just add some beer coolers and liquor in a corner near the cash register and behind the counter, said owner Mike Bailey.

A more ambitious remodel remains in the works, however, as Bailey eventually wants to add food service and a drive-thru by expanding the store into its unused car wash bays. He first announced those plans in 2021, but they’ve been delayed by supply chain issues and inflation.

“Everything is still challenging to get new equipment, and the costs are crazy,” he told the Tribune on Wednesday.

The project could potentially start next spring, “with a little luck,” Bailey said.

“I would have thought by now things would have relaxed a little bit [with the supply chain], but they really haven’t,” Bailey said.

The license held by Pit Stop #12 has been unused since 2020, when the Red Stag closed and sold (the building is now the home of Alpine Medical). Bailey acquired the former bar’s liquor license in March 2021 — a couple months after missing out on a license that the council awarded to Albertsons.

The city council agreed to extend Pit Stop #12’s inactive license in late 2021 and 2022, but as it came up for renewal again this month, “the city sort of wanted us to get the liquor going,” Bailey said.

At the council’s Nov. 20 meeting, he told councilors that sales would begin as soon as coolers arrive, “and we technically could sell liquor ahead of that; it just wouldn’t be chilly.”

“As long as we’re all following the letter of the law, we’ll all be happy,” offered Mayor John Wetzel.

Pit Stop #12’s license was among 20 that the council unanimously renewed for the coming year.

The expansion plans didn’t come up at the meeting, but Bailey told the Tribune that he’s “trying to get that going.”

“I still think Powell has a need for some more food service and stuff,” he said.

Pit Stop #12, which borders the Subway restaurant, joins the chain’s location on East Coulter Avenue, Pit Stop Travel Center #11, in selling alcohol. 

They’re among eight Pit Stop gas stations and convenience stores spread across Riverton, Lander, Thermopolis, Worland and Powell. They operate under the umbrella of Riverton-based Bailey Enterprises Inc., which also owns a tire and auto shop in Lander and Riverton, a cafe in Riverton and two Bailey Fuel Depots in Cody.