Hundreds of thousands of Olympic celebrants are flocking to Vancouver's downtown, especially Robson Street, seen here, prompting officials to order private liquor stores to close early. (CBC)

Private liquor stores in Vancouver's downtown core are being told to close early for the second night in a row.

Due to concerns of public drunkenness and an unprecedented number of intoxicated people, private liquor stores have been ordered to close at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

A Ministry of Housing spokesperson said the order was made to ensure the Olympic Games are safe for everyone.

The decision affects 15 private liquor stores in downtown Vancouver and in the West End. Government liquor stores were not affected by the decision because they close at 6 p.m.

A similar order was issued on Saturday night, and Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said it is one reason things went so smoothly.

"The number of instances of liquor pour-outs was down by 50 per cent over the previous night," he said.

"The number of people who had to go to jail for being intoxicated in a public place was down significantly as well."

However, the closure means a loss of business for private liquor stores.

"It's really hard locking the door when you've got a lineup of people that want to get some drinks and what not, but there's nothing we can do about it," said Nigel Lutz, the general manager of Jimmy's Liquor Store downtown.

"You still have bars that you can drink until 5 o'clock in the morning … and you can still get offsales at some of the establishments, so I don't know why we're getting singled out."

Police said they were expecting huge crowds in downtown Vancouver Sunday night because of the Canada-U.S. hockey game.