Local liquor stores respond to potential Sunday sales

The Indiana legislature is considering a repeal of the laws that forbid the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

Both the Indiana House and Senate have approved separate bills lifting the Sunday slaes ban and final passage is expected before the legislative session ends in March. The change, should it be passed, would take effect as early as July 1.

Senate Bill 1 would allow “the following to sell alcoholic beverages for carryout on Sunday from noon until 8 p.m.: a package liquor store, grocery store, convenience store or drug store and restaurants that satisfy the requirements to sell carryout.”

The laws banning Sunday sales — “blue laws” — go back to the days of Prohibition and were seen as a way to increase church attendance and discourage the perceived lack of morality required to frequent establishments selling alcohol, especially on a Sunday. However, some of those establishments are actually not as in favor of repealing those laws than some might think.

Joe Maudlin, owner of Beer:30 in Hardinsburg, said liquor store owners were once afraid they would lose their cold beer sales to big box and grocery stores.

“People are wanting to go to the grocery store to buy alcohol,” he said. “Liquor stores don’t want to lose cold beer sales — that’s why liquor stores have fought it so hard. We’d lose lots of business. It’s hard to beat the convenience.”

Kerry Kemmer, owner of Pitts Package in Salem, said big box stores would not be able to sell cold beer.

“This will be a boost to cold beer and liquor sales,” he said. “… With us being open on Sundays, it will kill cold beer sales everywhere but liquor stores.”

Another concern is will it effect Saturday sales. Kemmer says it won’t likely make much of a difference, nor will the fact people will be able to purchase alcohol where they buy the rest of their groceries.

“Sunday is the biggest grocery shopping day everywhere,” he said. “People who shop at Walmart, Rite-Aid, CVS will always shop there for what they want. We have lowered prices of beer and the rest of our products to be very competitive with those non-local stores and national chains. We have a lot of unique items big box stores don’t have. We try to keep things local for our customers.”

Kemmer said, due to the current laws, Indiana is losing $12 million a year by prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

“That’s just around the border,” said Kemmer. “… It’s strictly a numbers game. We’re losing a lot of money on Sunday sales.”

And the sellers along the border are, obviously, not pleased. “We’ve been losing money to them for years and years,” he said. “They may end up altering their hours, too.”

Still, Maudlin said, should the bill pass into law, he would like to give being open on Sundays a try.

“I don’t really see us being open all the time on Sundays,” he said. “It probably wouldn’t be worth the overhead costs. Most people are used to buying on Saturdays, but we may try it for a month or so. It might be worth it in places like Salem where there’s more foot traffic.

“We plan to be open every Sunday,” said Kemmer. “It’s something new. It’s like all of a sudden, you have a new toy and then the excitement wears off and people get used to it. I doubt we’ll be open until 8 p.m., though.”

Kemmer said, while the final vote hasn’t been cast yet, he believes Sunday alcohol sales are a done deal. 

“It’s about time,” said Kemmer. “… I don’t see the big deal. It shouldn’t have been a big deal for years … It’s such an outdated and archaic law.”

kate@salemleader.com