While on a trip across the country, you might decide to kill two birds with one stone by buying alcohol and cashing a check. To achieve this, you have to look for a store that does both. These stores are usually open day and night and even on weekends. Keep in mind that the time of opening for stores across the U.S and policies guarding the sale of alcohol vary across different states. Some stores do not sell alcohol on Sundays. Although the sale of alcohol and check cashing is illegal in some states, some other stores like Walmart, Albertsons, and Kroger still provide these services.

Liquor Stores That Cash Checks

Following are Liquor stores that cash checks :

a. Albertsons: Government, payroll, and personal checks can be cashed at Albertson’s. There are limits to the amount of money that can be cashed. $250 is the limit and there are no fees attached to cashing checks. However, cashing limit may be set by the store owners.

b. Food Lion: Checks that can are cashable include personal, traveler’s, and refund checks. Payroll checks that have not been handwritten can be cashed. Up to $50 of personal checks over purchase may be cashed. The limit for payroll, government, and rebate checks is $1,000 while the limit for traveler’s checks is $499.99. Food Lion collects fees for cashing checks and these fees are not uniform across stores. 

c. Fred Meyer: Both government and payroll checks may be cashed at Fred Meyer. Both have limits of $5,000 and a $3 fee is charged for checks amounting to more than $2,000. Opening time may vary across the U.S but most stores stay open until 9 PM. 

d. Giant Eagle: Unlike the other stories on the list, a Giant Eagle Advantage Card is required to cash checks. Government, payroll, and personal checks are cashed in this store. There is a limit of $30 for personal and traveler’s checks. There are no limits on government and payroll checks. Stores stay open until 11 PM and fees are dictated by stores.

e. Hannaford: This store cashes pension, government, and payroll checks. Handwritten pension checks are not cashed. Customers need to apply for the privilege to cash checks in the store and approval is a lengthy process taking as long as five working days. Most stores stay open till 9 PM and limits and fees are not known.

f. King Soopers: Tax refund, payroll, corporate, government, and insurance checks are cashed in this store. Individual stores determine the cashing limit and fees are around $3 – $5 depending on the amount to be cashed.

g. Kroger: This store cashes tax refunds, corporate, insurance, government, and payroll checks. There are no cashing limits and fees charged on cashing are between $3 – $5 depending on the check type and amount to be cashed.

h. Market Basket: This store only cashes payroll checks.

i. Meijer: At Meijer’s, you can cash travelers, payroll, personal, and government checks at this store. There’s a $25 limit for personal checks, a $1,999 for government checks, and a $1,000 limit for payroll checks. The limit for traveler’s checks is $100.

j. Walmart: Walmart stores cash various checks including 401k, government, payroll, tax, insurance, and cashier’s checks. You can receive up to $20 when a personal check has been used to pay for a purchase. Most Walmart stores don’t cash checks over $5,000 but you’ll have to contact your local Walmart store to get more information. $3 is the cashing fee for checks below $1,000 while $6 is the fee for cashing checks over $1,000.

Conclusion

If you are traveling and you need to get some liquor or cash a check or even do both, you might find yourself at any of the liquor stores listed above. If you are very lucky, you might also happen upon a store that provides these services and also stays open deep into the night. However, some of these stores have specific requirements for cashing checks. It would be advisable to enquire about the fees charged on cashing checks.

a. Why can’t Walmart cash my check?

Some issues might occur when trying to cash a check at a Walmart store. Sometimes, the scanner might not properly read the check. This means cashing a check might be difficult. At other times, the rules for cashing the check might be inconsistent from day to day.

b. At what hours are licensed businesses allowed to serve alcohol? 

In most states, 8 AM to 5 AM the next day except on an election day. However, some states may modify this rule after going through the proper channel.

c. What is the legal drinking age in Alaska?

21 years.

d. Is there any case where an underage person might be allowed to drink alcohol?

Only if such person is not on licensed property and if the alcohol was served by a spouse, legal guardian, or parent over the age of 21