Indiana Sunday alcohol sales: 1 year in
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Hoosiers are one year into Sunday alcohol sales.
For a year, they have not had to scramble on Saturday nights to buy a bottle of their favorite bubbly … or go without on Sunday.
How has the last year been for retailers across the state?
Kahn’s Fine Wine and Spirits in Indianapolis is one of countless Indiana places selling carryout booze on Sundays for the past year. “Domestics, Indiana beers always do very well,” said John Dechant, the shipping manager at Kahn’s.
“When they first started, the first Sunday was very busy, then it died off a lot. But, it’s really picked up since then,” Dechant said. “Sunday sales have been great. We’ve done some tasting events on Sundays.”
In fact, Dechant said, the store has seen a boost to its bottom line of about 10 to 20 percent.
“But, we sell almost as much on Sundays as we have on Saturdays,” Dechant said.
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill from state Sen. Ron Alting into law in February 2018.
The Republican from Lafayette said, “I think it’s went very well. I think it’s based on three factors: location, location, location. In talking to package liquor store owners in particular, it really depends where they’re located, where their stores are, whether there’s a demand for Sunday sales or there’s not a demand.”
Alting said some liquor store owners have told him it’s not easy to staff from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
“It’s very difficult to hire one employee that wants to work Sunday and Sunday only,” Alting said. “The labor challenge has been very very difficult for most package liquor stores. They’ve got to key in that factor also on whether or not it pays to be open on Sundays or it doesn’t:”
Alting said he is working on a bill that would let you buy booze off a golf cart while on a golf course. That bill was referred Feb. 27 to the Senate Committee on Public Policy. The House approved the bill 92-4 on Jan. 31.
Alting is also working on a bill that would let you run a tab for alcohol purchases at a country club or private club and let you be billed once a month for it. The House approved that measure 81-16 on Feb. 21. On Wednesday, the bill was assigned to the Senate Committee on Public Policy.