Group lobbies for Sunday alcohol sales

For 35 years, Indiana residents have not been able to purchase alcoholic beverages from stores on Sundays, but a new campaign hopes to change that.

The movement “Hoosiers for Beverage Choices” is trying to change a law that prohibits Hoosier retailers from selling alcohol on Sundays. Through a Web site that launched in August, people can sign a growing online petition, said Indiana Retail Council President Grant Monahan. The campaign also wants to allow the sale of cold beer at drug, grocery and convenience stores.

But not everybody is happy with the movement. Many Hoosiers believe the more often alcohol is available for purchase, the more often it will be abused.

According to Indiana Code 7.1-3-1-14, retailers cannot sell alcoholic beverages from 3 a.m. on Sundays until 7 a.m. on Mondays. The exception to this rule is that alcohol can be served at most licensed restaurants from 10 a.m. on Sundays to 12:30 a.m. on Mondays.

The Indiana Retail Council is one organization involved in the movement that hopes to eventually change the law, Monahan said. The council represents and provides all sizes and types of retail stores with government affairs representation in Indiana.

“We are providing in-store materials that will educate our customers as well,” Monahan said.
Currently, the only types of retail stores allowed to sell cold beer are liquor stores, Monahan said. He said this allows liquor stores to create a “monopoly” on the price of cold beer.

Monahan said he thinks Indiana is losing millions of dollars in revenue by not allowing any kind of stores to sell liquor and beer on Sundays.

Shona Flynn-Duncan, public relations manager for the Bloomington-based Sahara Mart, agrees.

“There are people that specifically come in for alcohol,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that they don’t come other times for food, but they are looking for something specific.”

Flynn-Duncan said the sales of all products would increase because when people go into the store to buy one thing, they also purchase other goods while they are there.
The sale of alcohol on Sundays would also help the store profit at its new location on Third Street, which will open this fall, because it has a larger beer and wine section, Flynn-Duncan said.

Others, such as representatives from the Indiana Area Office of The United Methodist Church, don’t agree with changing the law.

Church spokesman Dan Gangler said in an e-mail the church is not against the specific organization, “Hoosiers for Beverage Choices.” However, he said the church believes that the government should control the sale of alcoholic beverages.

“Whether or not such beverages are sold on Sunday or any other day of the week is secondary to the control of an addictive substance that is misused and can create great harm to people and their families,” Gangler said. “Alcoholism continues to be a problem in our society, and those who market alcoholic beverages need to be upfront about their intentions, not calling an industrial advertising campaign a grassroots citizens’ movement.”

The United Methodist Church is not alone in its opposition to the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

Wade Shanower, president of Big Red Liquors, said the availability of alcohol will only lead to an increase of the misuse of alcohol.

Shanower said being able to sell alcohol on Sunday will not increase the profits of the stores. He based this on research that was done throughout states that do allow alcohol to be sold on Sundays.

In response to the sale of cold beer, Shanower said 6,000 restaurants and taverns can sell cold beer.

In addition, Shanower said cold beer is the preferred alcoholic beverage choice for underage drinkers. He said liquor stores are the only “regulated” stores because you have to be 21 years or old to get into the store.

Despite the moral concerns and economic conflicts of the situation, “Hoosiers for Beverage Choices” Web site claims to have more than 10,000 signatures supporting the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

The petition is just the beginning for the group. There will be a new component in January to the Web site that will allow people to e-mail their representative to encourage them to change the law when the Indiana General Assembly goes back in session, Monahan said.