Dry January Hit Different This Year. Can Bars Afford Its Rising Popularity?

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Dry January Hit Different This Year. Can Bars Afford Its Rising Popularity?

January is historically a treacherous month for bars. Tourism dries up. Locals hibernate. Sales atrophy. It hasn’t helped matters that, in recent years, a new nemesis has emerged: Dry January. Over the past 20 years, drinking habits have shifted in the U.S., especially among young people who are consuming alcohol at a lower rate than in prior decades. Although the tradition of sober Januarys has existed in Finland since the early 1940s, Dry Janu…