Depending upon where you live in the country, different States have different laws when it comes to the distribution and selling of liquor spirits, in which, you might think, that a business that specifically is selling liquor, would always be known as a liquor store, but in fact, that isn’t always the case. There are areas in the country in the south as well as the northeast, that designate their liquor stores, under the moniker of "package store" which when first coming upon the term, it just doesn't make any real sense, as most people would not intuitively associate a package store with liquor, but like many things in life, there is a story behind this.
There are many reasons and theories given by various people as to why liquor stores are known in certain States of this country as package stores. For instance, some theorize that it's called a package store because some obscure State law necessitates that patrons cannot leave the premises with a liquor bottle without it being bagged, which has been henceforth translated into the vernacular of a package store. Then there is those that say that back in the day, saloons and bars both sold liquor to consume on the premises as well as that they also sold liquor to take home, in which that liquor had to be "packaged", that is, bottled, and hence the term package store. Further, as reported by robertfmorris.com, the actual shipment and distribution of liquor initially was typically done through the usage and transport of kegs and barrels, because the transportation and distribution of such was not only much more convenient for the manufacturer but also more reliable in the sense of the prevention of breakage for the conveyance of these spirits, in addition to the fact, that once received by the saloon or liquor establishment, they would then be able to re-package the liquor distributed to them from kegs into bottles for the sale of these spirits to their consumers by drink or by bottle.
Eventually both the reliability of shipping goods in bottles and the distribution of such improved, in addition to the fact as further reported by robertfmorris.com, that State governments after prohibition stipulated specific rules and regulations that precluded distributors and sellers of liquors received of being permitted to take a barrel of liquor and thereby to re-package it into bottles on their premises, for fear that they might dilute or adulterate it in some way, doing such, in all probability to increase profits or to benefit certain proprietors who were in on the activity. This meant, that the selling of liquor to the public was restricted to selling the liquor in the original package as distributed to the liquor store to begin with, which also meant that the manufacturers of liquor bottles now had more incentive to see that the liquor that they sold had their name attached to it which would represent their name well, and would also represent a product that was consistent in taste and strength.
Today, the term package store, as a synonym for a liquor store, just seems quaint, in which, such a naming convention has a lot more to do with government rules, regulations, and laws, in regards to the distribution and the selling of liquor, than anything else, logical or not.