In light of consumer and producer price inflation spiking, retail sales have held up pretty well, but an interesting thing is happening over in the beer and wine cooler at your local convenience store. Specifically, not as many alcoholic beverages are being sold. Sales of beer, wine, and liquor were down 5.4% year-over-year in April, according to Nielsen IQ. The decline is most pronounced at convenience stores, where people also come to buy gas, and maybe step in for beer, other beverages and snacks. It’s also pronounced in states with the highest gas prices, like California. With the caveat that beer sales can be volatile month-to-month, impacted by weather and when holidays fall in addition to inflation, the downtrend lately isn’t surprising to beverage analyst Mike Bronstein at AlixPartners.“Beer in general has been in structural decline, down year-over-year for the last several years,” he said.That can be chalked up to more health-conscious consumers, and new alternatives stealing market share, like hard seltzers and cocktails in a can. But Bronstein said soaring gas prices aren’t helping.“Fuel pricing is really exacerbating trends already in motion,” he said.First, consumers are prioritizing everyday necessities over discretionary purchases, said Johnny Sawyer, senior research manager at the public opinion firm Ipsos.“People are spending more on groceries — like it’s beef, it’s produce,” he said.But it’s different for discretionary purchases.“(Like) alcohol,” Sawyer said. “If they have to pick somewhere to pull back, that’s probably a place that they’ll start, because it’s something that they don’t need, it’s something that they want.” Beer sales are down the most at convenience stores, where the most beer is sold. Traditionally, for a driver who steps out of their car to pump gas and steps inside if they’ve got a minute, those cases of cold beer are inviting. Now, that dynamic is disrupted for cash-strapped consumers, said Chip West, director of category strategy at the marketing firm RRD.“Beer is a impulse purchase,” he said. “When you’re outside at the pump, a lot of times you won’t even walk into the store because you’re still concentrating on how much am I spending on gas.”It’s not just beer sales that are suffering.“So they’re seeing a decrease in snacks, soda, lottery tickets,” West said.Whatever happens with gas prices, the beer industry does have some cause for optimism, said Bourcard Nesin, senior vice president covering drinks at Rabobank. That’s because in June, FIFA is coming to town.“The World Cup is just going to be a really big deal, because it’s the play book they know how to run, right?” he said. “They know how to sell beer at big events.”Nesin called the tournament a Super Bowl that lasts a month.