Systembolaget
supplies the
Swedish population with
alcoholic
beverages.
In Sweden, Systembolaget has a monopoly in this area of business. This means that ordinary stores only sell cider and beer at a maximum of 3.5% alcohol. The rest must be purchased at Systembolaget. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since they have a very nice selection from all around the world, covering most areas involving alcohol.
Due to Swedish taxes, the prices are rather high, where for example a 70cl bottle of the native Absolut Vodka is as much as 216 SEK, which at the time of writing is about 20 USD.
Systembolaget has 416 stores, and just recently (2001-07-07) opened its doors on Saturdays.