Sunday Liquor Sales Battle Back On The Table At Capitol

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A long-running debate over Sunday liquor sales is back on the table at the State Capitol. Minnesota is one of about a dozen states that do not allow store liquor sales on Sundays.

Some business owners and customers say the law is simply outdated, while other small businesses say opening doors on Sundays would actually hurt business. Liqour store owner Tamra Kramer was one of the people joining at the State Capitol to head on a "liquor run" to Wisconsin on Sunday.

Minnesota's neighboring state does allow liquor sales on Sundays.

Kramer said she estimates her store, Vom Fass at the Mall of America, loses out on $50,000 per year because of the inability to sell on Sundays.

"I see customers coming by the liquor store and actually looking into the window," Kramer said.

Sen. Susan Kent (D-Woodbury) is the author of a bill aiming to reverse the ban on Sunday liquor sales.

"My district is really near Wisconsin and people in my community feel like this is Minnesota business and tax revenue that keeps driving across the river and they don't understand why," Kent said.

But the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association and several other groups lobbying to keep the ban in place call themselves Supporting Minnesota's Alcohol Regulations and Traditions (SMART). They said in a statement that changing the rules would mean disaster for small rural businesses.

Many small businesses are not close enough to a bordering state to compete with other states, but SMART officials said the in-state changes in competition would be difficult to keep up with for many stores.

Kent said businesses would still be able to be closed Sundays if that makes sense for them and their communities.

Customer Gary Bandel joined some lawmakers and business owners in visiting a Wisconsin liquor store on Sunday. For him, he said it comes down to a consumer's right to choose what they buy and when they buy it.

"We spent about $30 here we could have spent in Minnesota," he said.

Kent said she is more hopeful than ever because at the end of last year's legislative session the state passed a law allowing taprooms to be open on Sundays, selling beer to the public that day, the same way Minnesota bars do with municipal consent.

There are several bills being discussed that would lift the ban on Sunday liquor sales, some of which include provisions that would allow businesses to open and sell liquor after noon and others that would only call on businesses to close on some major holidays.