Seven months after Allen residents voted to legalize retail liquor sales, three package stores have swooped in to capitalize on the city’s fledgling liquor market.

The Village at Allen announced in November that Total Wine & More had signed a lease to open at the property in the spring of 2017. But even as the large alcoholic-beverage retailer was drawing up the final paperwork, a group of smaller liquor stores were jockeying for an early foothold in the Allen community.

“A lot of people have no idea yet that the liquor [measure] has been passed,” said Sunny Sakaria, owner of the city’s first liquor store.

Allen Liquor 4 U became the first package liquor store to operate within Allen city limits when it opened its doors on Oct. 18 near Main Street and Allen Heights Drive. In November, the North Texas chain Liquor Depot opened two Allen locations—the first on Greenville Avenue and Main Street and the second near Exchange and Angel parkways.

As Allen and other Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs have legalized liquor sales, regional chains have been able to expand their presence throughout North Texas, Liquor Depot managing partner Kareem Hakemy said. The company currently operates about 20 locations in the area, including its Allen locations.

“Decades ago, you could only go to Dallas or certain areas [to buy liquor], and now the market is becoming more open,” Hakemy said. “It’s all over D-FW.”

In addition to the three liquor stores that have already opened in Allen, a fourth named The Liquor Outpost is scheduled to open this month at the newly constructed Stacy Village shopping center near Stacy and Watters roads, according to the developer.

Sakaria hopes the city will keep the number of incoming liquor stores low for purposes that would benefit his business and, he said, the local market for liquor products in general. The fewer the number of liquor stores serving a city, he said, the more each store stands to benefit from the demand for their products.

“If it’s too many stores, then it’s not good for the stores,” Sakaria said. “It’s not good for anybody.”

Hakemy said he would welcome additional liquor stores to the area, arguing it would draw more tax revenue into the city coffers. Although Hakemy’s company doesn’t have immediate plans to open a third location in Allen, he said he would consider doing so under the right market conditions.

“It’s a new city and there’s a lot of optimism,” Hakemy said. “Who’s to say how many people will be coming, even from your neighboring cities?”